Cherry Chocolate:Cho's Story
by cho-jeevas
Summary: Meet Cho who used to live with her brother but now lives in the mysterious Wammy's House. WHo will soon become a vital part in the fight against Kira. Watch her find love, hate, friendships, and herself in the whirlwind of postmodern Japan. OCx? R
1. Monster

Cho could see things. Things no one else could see. She could see the shadows of roses on people's faces when they were sad. She could see the big tall figures that roamed along the Earth, wings flapping, holding notebooks in their hands. Sometimes, Cho could even see people, people that weren't there any more, that had died years before. The little girl would run to them, when it looked like she was running at an empty corner, a deserted doorway.

When she held her older brother of three years' hand, Cho was safe though. She tried not to look at those things; they scared her then, made her cry. Burying her pale face in his coat she would try not to look.

"_Cho…" _ he would murmur to her. "_Cho, its okay."_ She loved that. It was like he knew exactly why she sometimes burst into tears at a street corner, or start running randomly on her long, thin legs. Even though he didn't…and she knew that. It felt so good to have him stroke her like that.

Cho had black hair. It was long, almost to the small of her back and a lot of times uncombed. There was no comb anyways, they didn't have much in the small cardboard shack Cho and her brother lived in, all alone.

Why Cho could see things (at least she thought) was because of her eyes. Not her blackberry hair, not her snow pale skin. Her eyes…They were big, luminous and purple. Yet, that wasn't the odd part; the purple was ringed with a violent bloody red. Around her irises was a red circle, something that had been there since her birth 11 years ago. Cho hated them. She wished she could buy sunglasses. A big, round pair. The kind that covered up half of your face and covered her eyes. They would be the first purchase she would ever make…

But would she? Cho and her brother were poor. So poor they couldn't even rent out a room. Cho wondered if they had any money at all. They ate what they stole and lived alone, dodging the authorities.

The authorities who would take both of them and lock them up in the big orphanage downtown. _St. Michael's _was what it was called. The children in it were pale and sad and wore ugly itchy gray uniforms all year round. Cho's brother told her if they ever were put in there they would be separated and hurt. He told her to stay away from all of the police and dogcatchers. They lived free and alive and would run through the streets all night and day, playing games of hide and seek and tag or just running.

That was why they were both fast, particularly Cho, whose small limber form and long, long blackberry black hair gave her a speed that cut through the air like a blade. And when she and her brother lay in the box shack at night under the two threadbare down quilts, cuddling close for body heat from each other she felt safe and warm and happy, even though they were hungry and skinny and cold.

Those were the bright beautiful days that Cho wanted to live in forever and ever and never get old. But our story has to begin, doesn't it? It's filled with hate and love and deceit and truth and joy and fiery tears. Of hate and of men, yet of women as well; all about them joined and broken apart and together at the same time.

Do you want to hear it?

It all started on that day. Wednesday to be exact, according to Cho's big brother's calendar he'd snagged from a traveling merchant. It was all about cherries and chocolate. It made Cho hungry but it also revealed her favorite food. Cherries and chocolate. Cherries dipped in chocolate. Chocolate bars with cherries in the middle all mushy and yummy. The black haired girl craved them all day and dreamt about them at night. She'd had some once and it was delicious…Cho couldn't describe it.

This is how it started and ended: with cherry chocolate. That sunny, clear, cold October Wednesday Cho ran up to a candy seller. She could smell the aroma of fresh chocolate from down the street and couldn't bear to have it taken away. She'd broken away from her brother and run towards it. A red curtain covered the caravan door. It was an old fashioned seller. He had put up incense and draped it like a gypsy caravan.

"Hello?!" Cho called in her small voice. "Do you have any cherries? Or chocolate? Or both?" her breath caught as a man stepped out. He was tiny and bent over. His face was crinkled up with lines and he wore a cloak which was-like the rest of his shop-red.

"Cho!" he called. She gasped, her eyes growing wide. Maybe she should go back to her brother.

"What do you want!? How do you know my name?" Cho balled up her fists and glared at the man with a fierce expression. The man just laughed at her fury and put his arms around her neck in a kind of hug.

"It's all right. I know everything and everyone, as well as the fact," here he lowered his scratchy voice. "that YOU, Cho, you and your brother don't have parents and should be at St. Michaels."

Cho flared, jerking away from this scary old man. "Hurt me or my brother and I'll KILL you!" she said sharply. It sounded wrong in her loud but little chipmunk voice.

The man laughed again and sighed. "Oh, Cho. Unless you steal, I will not lay a single hand on your lives."

Cho nodded thinking, "_This'll be easy. He trusts me. I'll have more cherry chocolate than I can eat in a year."_ So, the man disappeared into the shop, and Cho waited, bouncing around.

Finally, after what felt to the impatient child like years, the old man came out with a basket. Not a handful, a BASKET of chocolates. Cho's eyes bulged. They were cherry chocolates. He laid them down.

"How much?" Cho asked immediately. She didn't have anything.

"For you? 10 pounds."

Cho sighed. In dollars that was like $20. She hadn't seen that much money in years and years. She would have to do this quickly and cleanly. With one hand, she picked up a big, long box of cherry cordials. Her fingers shook as she held it in her lap and traced it again and again. Old man watched her carefully. Her other hand darted out, and the man followed it with his eyes. Carefully, making sure to keep the darting hand moving, Cho slid the cherry cordials into her jeans.

She drew her hand back and smiled at the old man. "Too much. I've gotta go." She said angelically, standing up. The man looked at her gravely. His black pupils seemed to widen and grow, covering his eyes. He grew taller and even thinner. His long red cloak turned black and flew out towards Cho, wrapping around her ankles. "You stole Cho."he said in a voice that could freeze time.

Cho screamed, screamed out her brother's name, for help. No one seemed to be seeing anything. People stopped and stared at her, the crazy little girl who, to them was thrashing and whacking at an invisible opponent. She turned and scrambled for her life but I did no good, the fabric from this candy-selling monster's cloak was taut. One way. Cho blushed even as she did it, even under these circumstances. She twisted and yanked out of her jeans. The invisible cordials came spilling out onto the ground, scattering everywhere.

People gasped and some hurried off, hoping to get away from her. The cloak's grip was mostly on her jeans so Cho was free, though donned only in her underwear. She ran. Used all those years of playing tag and ran. The monster followed, reaching and reaching and reaching. Cho ran faster and faster, her thick bangs pushed back out of her eyes, air making her mouths inside cool and minty.

"HELP! ANYONE! BROTHER!!! HELP!!!" she screamed, running and running and running, the monster pursuing her into alleyways, up a fire escape, into and through an empty old house, which creaked and cracked even as skinny Cho came running through.

Suddenly all was quiet and she squeezed through a tall gate saw a tower, a boy, a sign.

Whammy's House.

All was silent as Cho felt the blackness melt into her vision like cherry chocolate.

**And THAT was only the prologue-ish thing.**


	2. Wammy's House Welcome

**Well, I hope you liked that last chapter. It was so deep, but the whole time I was writing this it was like. NOOO!!!! NOT ENOUGH DETAIL! BNWIOJFGWOJFIW!!!! This is my favorite story I've written so far. Its almost obsessive! My most crowd-popular has been _Stay Sane _which crosses Death Note, Naruto, and Bleach, the main character being Misa-Misa. Its MY least favorite though. Hn...strange how things work out.**

** ENJOY (loooonnnnggg chapter this time!) **

2

"Should we touch her?"

"Is she _dead?_"

"No you idiots. Shut up, you'll wake her!"

"She's probably_already _awake…you're so loud!"

"And you aren't loud?"

"Guys, shush. I'll try and pick her up."

"What do you _mean_ try, she's skinny enough _I _could pick her up!"

"Did you just admit you're-!?"

"NO I DID-!!!"

Cho heard all of these voices. All boys, all kids. She felt cold, her legs were practically as numb as if someone had poured frozen chicken guts all over them.

HER LEGS! They were naked, and that meant everyone was staring at her underwear….

"_Yeah, Cho, great job!" _she sarcastically congratulated herself. Should she sit up?

The answer came in the form of a pair of arms reaching out and lifting her high.

"She's light. I'll take her up to the empty room on the second floor."

"Let ME carry her! Jeez. I never get to-…"

"Yeah, right. YOU get to do everything!"

"No I do n-"

The voices faded as Cho let herself be carried away by this mysterious pair of arms. She felt high above the ground so the boy was tall. Maybe even more so than her big brother.

She held onto him tightly with the insides of her knees, blindly listening to the crunch of his footsteps on the pavement. Where was she? She remembered the sign-Whammy's House, but hadn't seen anything else. A boy…yes she'd seen one. What did he look like?

Who knew? It was pretty useless searching through her half-awakened mind to try and find a single second. A nanosecond even.

Cho smelled smoke. Smoke! Her brother smoked cigarettes. Long thin cigarettes that smelled so good and warm Cho wanted to dive into the smell; all of her immersed in the stuff…it made up one of her favorite dreams. Was her brother there? Was he standing on the steps, long red-brown hair mussed like it usually was, smoking? He, her brother said it was the only thing that kept him warm during the cold winter nights when they lay all alone under the stars…Cho had refused to smoke, even when he persisted, saying it kept her warm. She had seen the men who smoked, yellow, droopy skin, tired expressions, and a sadness Cho sensed that almost made her feel sick. She hoped her brother wouldn't turn out like that…

She rocked as they (whoever _they_ were) mounted a stairwell and climbed up, up until Cho felt her body level again. It was relaxing being carried like this, all through the place-wherever they were-to an unknown destination; preferably a bed.

The small 11-year-old was shifted from one arm to the other, and something-a door-creaked open. Inside the door it was dark behind Cho's eyelids. Her carrier fumbled for a light, all while balancing her on his knee. A red glow indicated he had found it and now placed Cho softly on something so ridiculously soft and cushy it had to be a bed.

A bed! Cho hadn't laid on one of those ever since she could remember. It was too soft for her almost, though comfy it made her back ache. She let out a cat yawn accidentally. The boy carrying her took in a breath, waiting. She decided it just might be time to wake up, though fake sleeping and making him carry her around HAD been fun. She giggled through her lips softly; so much it sounded like a snore.

The boy seemed to be pulling something out of a cabinet or closet. It crumpled softly as he laid it by her feet.

"Well." He muttered softly. "Guess I'll wait here." Cho heard him sit, creaking very slightly. It was quiet. It made Cho want to wriggle around this silence. It wasn't like the silence outside, where it was cool and open and the wind blew. In here it was quiet in a terrible loud roaring sort of way that hurt Cho's ears. Could she open her eyes? Yeah, I guess she could.

Slowly, heavily, she lifted her long lashes off of her pale skin, revealing eyes usually seen on a demon or angel…something not earthly. The first thing her eyes revealed was that she was indeed lying on a bed, a small kind of itchy looking one. Now that she noticed it kind of was-itchy I mean…

Her eyes skimmed the room. Plain white walls, a small window with no curtains and a bed…which she was after all, lying on. A cabinet sat in a corner, looking kind of foreboding, its thick wooden doors closed tightly. Like the doors to a heart…not a very nice one.

Then, Cho saw what was probably the most interesting thing in the whole room. Her rescuer!!! He was a little older than her, probably 16 or 17 with spiky black hair that hung in round, soulful eyes. He wasn't gorgeous, but had a kind of chiseled, odd feel about him. His back was to a wall, and to his right was a door. He was staring at her, right in the eyes. That was probably since he was looking at their odd coloring, but Cho didn't mind.

She sat up on her bed and wriggled her toes around. Her rescuer shifted and seemed to look at Cho from another angle. Criticizing, reviewing her with his eyes, though the words would probably not ever be said. Why wouldn't he speak? Cho glared at him fiercely. Maybe at least he would leave! He didn't.

"How old are you, little girl?" he asked in a low, quiet voice.

Cho crossed her arms and tried to stop the words from coming out. She couldn't stop them, just like she couldn't make him leave.

"I'm 11 and my name is CHO." She said, scrunching up her nose.

"Okay." He said and smiled. "I'm L. I'm 16 right now."

_Right now?? _Cho wondered _what, could he change age or something? Freak._

"Whatever." Cho played the so-what-your-name-is-one-letter-long card, twisting her tangled hair around a finger and looking away. "Where are we? Some nuthouse? Are you gonna lock me up just like they do at St. Michaels?"

L laughed and shook his shaggy head. "No, Cho. You're at Whammy's House." He said the title slowly, like she had mental problems.

Cho looked up, straight in L's eyes. "I'm hungry." She was testing him now. She was always hungry.

"Well. I don't own the orphanage." L said smartly. Cho bit her lip, worried. They didn't give you any food?

"Dinner's at 6."

"What time is it?"

"5:55" L stood and pointed to Cho's bare feet. They were resting just above a blouse, coat, and skirt. All maroon, except for the blouse. "Put that on. It was hard finding one your size since you're so skinny…"

"It's not my fault." Cho snorted.

L looked at her. "Whose fault is it then?"

Cho was quiet. She didn't think he'd ask, but ignore her, like most people older than her did.

When she didn't answer L looked down again at the outfit. "No one wears it, but you don't really have an…erm…full outfit, so I got it out for now."

"Okayyy…."Cho raised her eyebrows at L.

"I'll go then. The bathroom is through…that…door." The boy said, pointing towards a door beside her bed. He left quickly, waving as she picked up the outfit.

"Oh, yes. The cafeteria is down a flight and to the right." L was gone. Thank God!

Cho ran into the bathroom, which contained all the necessities. In a small cabinet near the top she found a small tortoise-shell brush, which she took to her long hair. It hurt to run a comb through it, and she winced every time it got near the back underside. That would probably wash out eventually, whatever was making the knots, Cho thought, and stuffed the comb back in the drawer where she'd found it, yet as it closed, something caught her eyes. A pair of scissors. Scissors! Cho lifted them out slowly, letting the metallic blades catch the light from a fluorescent light bulb in the ceiling. She pulled a bit on one particular tangle in her feared back underside. It tightened around her finger, like it was alive. Was it?

Now, Cho THAT was a pretty stupid thought. Her hair being ALIVE!? Her hair actually with its own little heart and brain and muscles…it was odd and slightly scary to think about. Like how male angler fish link onto female angler fish and lose their ability to think and their organs and then to the women they-well…never mind. Cho cut out the dreadlock with a single snip of the sharp scissors.. It fell into her hand. She felt a little disgusted…what now? She decided to throw it in a nearby trashcan. She did that and then tried to comb the rest of her back underside. Fairly easy, it was, now that main controller was out…like trying to dismember a person with a knife after taking out their brains and-well, you must have picked up on Cho's rather morbid intelligence by now.

Now that that was over with she changed, pulling off her shirt and underwear. It was cold. Usually her brother held her behind him while she changed, so she wouldn't freeze or becoming a free show for any passer bys, though those were rare. The blouse came on easily and the skirt was a little harder, since it was still a little big. The overcoat wasn't necessary so Cho skipped it, using just the knee socks, which sagged on her skinny calves. Dressed now, Cho stared in the mirror at her own reflection.

She wasn't normal looking. No, definitely not, but luckily, the looks scale had fallen high, above the normal point, though below the gorgeous beyond earthly beauty part. Cho had a certain curve to her lips, roundness to her eyes, flow to her movements, life to every bit of her that made her beautiful, if that's what you would call her. She'd been called lots of things, about her looks, but none of them had ever been anything close to "ugly" or "hideous." Now, dressed in this slightly oversized uniform, she did look a little out of place, but it still fit her.

"Time to go, Cho." She whispered, her high voice soft. Something reflected off of her arm as she reached for the handle, slashing the sleeve a bit. Cho turned, looking for the source, but nothing was there. The slashed sleeve would have to work for now.

Sighing she trotted through the room into the hallway. It had thick white carpeting and patterned walls, kind of like a Holiday Inn…but it still felt like a school. A couple billboards hung here and there, covered in upcoming events and whatnot. The stairwell was visible, and twisty, now with linoleum flooring. Cho liked the clack as she hurried down them, into another empty hall.

In this hall there was sound though. Where as the last corridor had been empty and silent, this one had the far away clacking and slurring of phantom voices all through it.

"Down the stairs and to the right…"Cho repeated L's directions out loud, her voice odd and echoey in the hall. She turned right because, why turn left? She walked towards a blue double door because why not?

Something dripped down onto the floor as she walked. Cho wiped her arm off, just in case and picked up her pace, now smelling something like bentos and Western style food all mixed up. The doors drew closer and closer, like she was watching them frame by frame as the camera did a close up, until she was pressing her small hands against the soft wood.

The door was well-oiled and smooth, like everything else here. They swung open easily, letting out a light _swish_ as they did so.

A blade of light cut into Cho's vision and there was the cafeteria in all its glory. Rows of children everywhere, cutting their unique shapes into the blinding light from the row of windows lining the wall perpendicular to her. Sure enough, everyone was eating something or other and it smelled amazing. Like if you picked up all of the good-smelling fresh foods in the world and mixed them all into one giant good smelling batch. One thing she noticed…they were all boys.

Feeling for once in her life a little shy, Cho looked down at her feet, the scuffed up floor from countless chairs and tables under her dirty tennis shoes. Another pair of feet joined hers, shadow falling over her soft features. She looked up sharply to see L, holding two trays of food in his hands and looking stunned, which was probably a permanent effect, due to his round eyes. He held a tray out under Cho's nose. She jumped and stared at him, probably the same stunned look crossing her face.

There was twice as much food as she would have ever eaten in a week right below her nose, all heaped onto one plate. Traditional Japanese food mixed right in with Western-style macaroni and cheese, along with other stuff.

"I was able to get you a bit. Sorry it's not much…"he said, half-smiling.

"_Not MUCH!"_ Cho squeaked. "That's more food than I usually eat in a WEEK!"

L rolled his eyes, like she was exaggerating. "How old are you again?"

"Eleven."

L nodded as if he suddenly remembered, and pointed over at a table. "Roger like us to sit by age so-"he began

"Who's Roger?" Cho butted in.

"The headmaster, of course!" said L. "Well, you sit over there." He pointed at the table again. "Sorry there are no girls, at least none your age, but the guys are…never mind."

Grabbing Cho's shoulder, he led her over to the pointed out table, piled with 15 or 20 boys, all more or less squished together. It looked…uncomfortable to say the least, especially for a lone girl like Cho was.

"Hey, guys!" L shouted over the din from the table. All the boys looked up at L and Cho almost as if it were a script, except Cho didn't know any of the lines.

"This is Cho-chan. She's eleven, just like you guys and she's new. So, try and make friends…or whatever you guys do."

There was a pause in which Cho realized she was supposed to say something, but she didn't. For once she stayed silent.

"Okay...anyone wants move for her?" L asked after a minute that seemed to last years.

Immediately, two of the boys slid apart like anti-magnets, one sliding under the table to knock a small dark haired boy out of the way. "All right." The shaggy haired man said, ignoring the fallen boy, who'd started crying. "Cho, you can sit there."

"Thanks, D." Cho said, messing up the strange man's name on purpose and taking her tray in small hands.

"Don't mention it, Chihiro." L waved and slouched away, smiling to himself. Cho sat down in the empty spot, squeezing between a tall, plain boy with a black crew cut and a small pale boy with white hair. She felt the whole table staring at her. Not bothering to look at anyone, Cho picked up her red apple and turned it in her hands.

The white haired boy tapped her on the shoulder. Cho gave him a what-now look and he pointed to her sleeve.

"You're bleeding." He observed.

**LoL! Read and review please! I'll answer reviews and write back as well!**


	3. M and N

3

Cho stared at her sleeve in surprise. There was indeed a thin stream of blood issuing from the slash in her blouse sleeve. She must have gotten it in between when she was cut and when she sat down. It dripped liquid and scarlet down onto her pale, bare leg. It didn't really hurt but from the look on Cho's face it looked like it hurt like crazy.

"I know." She snapped at the white-haired boy. "Ya think I _wouldn't_notice that?!"

The boy blinked and continued looking at Cho, making shivers do sprints up and down her spine, even though it was warm under her blouse and long, long hair.

"I'm Near." Said the boy.

"Do you pick your own name here?" Cho asked. Not getting her intended joke, Near shook his head slowly.

"I've been called that for almost ever." He said in his quiet, girlish voice.

"Sucks for you." Cho took a big bite of her apple and kept her eyes down, still noting everyone was looking at her silently. She took another bite, rhythmically chewing and swallowing. Eventually someone whispered in someone else's ear and that became, all good for Cho, a conversation that seemed to involve slapping each other and yelling. Stupid, though entertaining, Cho watched and began nibbling at an onigrii, apple core aside.

"Hey." Said a voice. Cho ignored it. "Hey, you girl!" she dropped her onigrii, realizing the voice was directed at her. Luckily, her common sense caught her before she could look at the speaker. Judging from the direction of the voice, it was the boy who'd slid under the table. Should she talk to him? No, uncalled for…at least until further notice.

"Hello? You deaf or just plain stupid?!" Cho gripped her onigrii, wanting so much to spit in the face of this obnoxious speaker. But answering now, even with a good comeback would show weakness.

The voice was silent; obviously thinking the last kind comment would take effect.

Perfect! A weakness. Without looking Cho began.

"Obviously someone hit the mute button. With luck. I would just turn it off." She flexed one of her fists, waiting.

With barely a breath to pause, the voice came again, making Cho grind her teeth.

"Lady, the mute button doesn't work. You're _outdated._" The last word told Cho exactly what her comebacks were to this kid. Cho wanted to rip the head off of this guy. He had responded to her comeback with one twice as good in 3 seconds flat! She spat into the palm of her hand, foamy liquid wetting her palm until it was slick and shiny.

"Wow. I sure _hoped_ your mute button would work." That voice infuriated Cho and before she could think she was spinning around and staring her attacker in the face. She'd expected a big, kind of brawny brown haired kid but she got something different.

The boy had chin-length dirty blonde hair that hung in his blue-green eyes. He was skinny, like Cho, but a little taller. He grinned at her.

"Hey." He said, raising a hand, looking her right in the eye. "You aren't bad…for a girl."

Cho bit the inside of her lip hard. "And for a guy you aren't not sexist!" she practically shouted. Crap, that was horrible.

The kid rolled his eyes and smiled a see-what-I-mean smile. "Like I said, _for a girl._"

He laughed like he was hilarious. "I'm Mello."

"You seem to me more like a half-male b-." Cho began, but the blonde boy slammed on her foot.

"Roger doesn't exactly encourage that." He smirked but Cho could see she'd gotten him where it hurt. Smiling to herself she looked down at her plate. The onigrii didn't look as good as the Western sandwich that L had handed her. She picked it up and took a bite. It was salty-sweet and heavy.

"What do we do after this?" she asked, hoping it was gym. She could personally whoop this Mello-kid's butt. Near looked at her through his bangs.

"We go for a walk." He said. "Or we just hang around here and clean up crap." It wasn't gym but it was almost as good.

"Alone?!" Cho asked, almost dropping her sandwich.

"Nope! In pairs." Mello said from across the table. Cho cussed under her breath and looked around for some weakling she could drag around, looking for her brother. Her lavender-red eyes landed on Near. She smiled softly, tilting her head sideways.

"Hi Near." She said, trying obviously to butter him up. He looked away.

"When's dinner over?"

"6:30." It was 6:15…infuriating clock! Cho tapped her feet. In fifteen minutes, she'd be out of there like a bullet out of a shotgun. Off to days of running and playing and laughing and thieving with her brother.

"Near…will you be my partner?" asked Cho suddenly, swiveling around to look at the albino boy.

"Yes." He said, not looking at her. Part 1 of plan down.

Mello glared at Near for a second. "I can't believe you're going to put up with that little brat." He said. Near looked at him coldly.

"You're the brat." Cho said and went on poking at her food.

"Are you even going to eat anything else?" asked Mello after a while. Cho looked down. It was true she should eat something if she were to go back. She discreetly shoved a handful of food in her skirt pocket.

"Why…you want it?" she asked Mello. Looking at his clean plate, he obviously kept thin by metabolism.

"No. Just asking." Cho glared at Mello again, just for good measure then stood up, kicking the leg of her chair.

"Erg! I can't wait any longer." She shouted, making half the cafeteria turn and look at the small black haired girl in surprise. Cho thought she could see Near roll his eyes out of the corner of her vision. The clock clicked to a five minute marker: 6:25.

"_FIVE WHOLE MINUTES???!!!_"Cho shouted even louder, her teeth clacking. "WHADDYA MEAN FIVE WHOLE-" she was cut off suddenly.

"WILL YA SHUT UP ALREADY!" of course that was Mello, who stood up, a few inches taller than Cho. Cho looked at the boy, wanting to ignore him, but knowing what he could do and had done with his words, he could probably punch Cho a good one, even if she was a girl. Detention wasn't worth it. But could the mighty Cho show defeat and sit? Of course not. Cho froze. For a second she totally and completely froze, just glaring at Mello. He stood still, but him smirking. ERG! Cho just wanted to RIP THIS BOY IN HALF FOR _REAL!!!_ Instead she smirked back; you could practically see the wheels turning in her head.

A simple "whatever" and sitting was as good as defeat. She could mock him, but that was too desperate. Then her wheels hit a good road and you could almost see a light bulb glow above the red eyed girl's head.

She yawned exaggeratedly. The rest of the cafeteria except for the eleven year old group had gone back to eating but who cared?

"Come on." She said. "Throw it at me. Anything. I've heard your crap…" Crap! A million times wouldn't work since she'd meet him minutes before. It'd sound straight out of a script…

"I've heard your crap before. Do it again. Make me look _bad_." Cho leaned across the table, glaring at Mello with all her might.

Mello's smirk disappeared as quickly as it had come. He sat down, laughing.

"You're desperate." He said, tossing his hair.

"The only one who's desperate is the androgynous freak tossing his freakishly long blonde hair." Cho responded, on a roll.

"Oh yeah, well-" Mello's heated reply was cut off as a bell chimed loudly from the tower. Immediately everyone stood and ran this way and that; tossing trays and burping and finding partners for the walk they were about to go on.

Cho grabbed Near's sleeve and yanked him up.

"Ow…stop it would you?" Near said in his calm voice as Cho began yanking him away.

"Oh, sorry." Cho loosened her grip, still pulling as she went.

"Do you even know where we're going?" he asked, as Cho turned into the hallway. It was a good point.

"Uh…right. You'd better lead." Sheepishly, Cho let go of the boy. He stood for a second, then took her hand slowly and softly led her back into the cafeteria.

"What's up with you and Mello?" she asked as Near followed a stream of children into a smaller hallway with tiled flooring.

"Nothing's_up. _I don't mind him. He's just too competitive." Said Near. "All because I'm better than him."

"_Better_ than him?! How can you say you're _better_ than someone as a person?" Cho asked in half disgust.

Near looked back at her, his sharp lavender eyes hard. "I mean at schoolwork. I'm best and he's second best. That's all there is to it."

"Stuck-up much?" Cho asked under her breath.

"If that's what you think, then sure." Near answered, obviously with radar hearing.

Cho stuck her tongue out at the back of his head, being pulled around.

The cafeteria seemed mostly cleared out by now. A few kids roared around, jostling eachother and laughing. CHo half wished there were more girls here, but the other half of her liked it the way it was. Living with her brother-a male obviously-Cho was used to guys. Not so much girls. Odd but true. Near tugged her towards the exit.

She felt a tug on her other hand and turned around to see Mello just standing there. He widened his green-blue eyes at her and held out his hand when she saw him. Glaring at him, then the back of Near's head Cho finally grabbed Mello's arm roughly and took off. He might be easier to pull around then Near, and anyways Near was such a snob…wasn't he?

Near spun around when he noticed Cho's missing presence but the crimson-violet eyed girl and the blond were long gone.

-

"Whew! I knew he was no good!" Mello said, relaxed now he'd won Cho over. Cho snorted and folded her arms over her flat chest.

"Not you too! Jeez, how stupid can you get?" she said, disgusted at his show of rivalry. Mello returned her comment with a withering glare. "What do you want me to do?" he said sharply. "Become best friends with that freak?!"

"Near's not a freak!"

"Then what is he?"

"A freakin' _snob_." Cho tossed her long hair and yanked Mello on behind her.

Outside it was cold as ice, and though most kids had their coats on, Cho was without. Trying not to act cold in her skirt and saggy knee socks she scanned the street in front of her for an opening where she could run home…if that's what you call it. Mello tugged on Cho with his arm, motioning towards the Whammy's gates.

"C'mon Cho! We walk through there with everyone else…" he said, raring and ready to go…so used to the everyday Whammy's House rules that they seemed almost exciting. Cho looked at him skeptically. She knew something more of course. You learned that kind of stuff on the streets even if you did learn it the hard way.

"Not tonight." Cho told Mello, her eyes alive in the cold.

"What do you mean not tonight? We do that ever-"

"Oh, shut up Mello!" Snow had begun to fall. Fresh snow. Snow that was Cho's adrenaline. They ran.


	4. Brother?

**I'd have to say my favorite character is either Misa or Matt or Mello. Easy on the M's you say, huh? This chapter took me barely any time at all...it was in my head for a long time and I was bookin' at about a page per 5 minutes!**

**Enjoy! I sadly only have ONE MORE DAY UNTIL XMAS BREAK IS OVER!!! That really sux...I'll still write, but still, school always sux in January!**

4

When the moonlight hits the snow it looks unreal: like a dream you've only had once. A day that makes you feel like the slinking' rock coolest person that ever was. That's how Cho felt as she raced through the streets on Manchester on that dark, cold, snowy, midnight, crystal-shiny-tinted night.

Half-dragging, half-guiding Mello along through those passageways she called home, Cho felt alive and well: like a bird that has just been freed from a cage after years and years of captivity. Though it'd only been a time so short it could be measured in milliseconds, Cho felt like that Wednesday morning had been years ago.

"Where the _hell _are we going?!" Mello shouted in Cho's ear as they narrowly avoided a traveling vendor.

Cho turned, her eyes sparkling like a bloodied sunset. "Home!" she said, smiling.

Mello was blank. To him, home was that place where he was always alone and always cold…when he hid from his father as he arrived as always in a high rage.

"What-…"he heard himself say, not particularly in a question or a comment.

"Another couple blocks!" Cho said in a high-pitch voice of excitement.

"Blocks?" growled Mello. The boy was already panting, but Cho was obviously up and running.

"Yeah! Blocks! Got a problem, kid?!" She turned around, like suddenly annoyed the boy existed.

"Naw…just…" The blond was panting too hard to speak and anyway, what did this mysterious new girl care?

Running, running. It became a blur to Cho and Mello just closed his eyes and kept going, wishing he'd left Near with this insane girl. They were in parts of the city near Mello's house and Mello actually wondered if they were going there.

Cho had her eyes sharp for the small alleyway she called her own. An array of shadowy, invisible figures and notebook clad creatures were out tonight. It must be a special night…special as in celebrating Cho's short-lived disappearance.

A shadow rose up in front of Cho. A small boy by the looks of it, dressed in 1930's style clothes and with shadows all over his face, the kind that came from neglecting. The petite Japanese girl screamed and dodged the boy quickly.

To Mello, Cho had just dodged an empty space. He shrugged and let her pull him on through the snow.

The corners were all starting to blur together, every corner a wall and every wall an empty horizon of red-yellow squares: bland as the future of any normal person.

Cho remembered this sign and that one too…under the red one she'd sat with her brother, learning how to blow a bubble. They were using a brand of London gum that didn't work very well. It'd ended up being stuck to the pole when Cho tried. They had run like crazy from the furious street cleaner…

Oh! And there was the place where Cho stole a pair of earrings and stabbed them through her unpierced ears. It had hurt and hurt and bled like crazy! Cho was crying and screaming (she was only 5 at the time) and her brother was running in circles crying and yelling for help. Finally, somehow they dug up some cotton swabs and put them all over the little girl's ears. Cho let go of Mello to feel the small scar where the little pink earring had strived to pass through.

Mello fell on his face when Cho let go. He got a nosebleed. Life for him sucked a lot right then. Not that Cho cared or anything…

Cho was too busy thinking…thinking of her brother with his ruffled red-brown hair and big brown eyes…her brother with the cigarettes and the insane love of stripes even though Cho said they made him look like a giant candy cane. He was tall from the time he was little but everyone said he would stop growing at an early age. Would he? Last Cho'd seen him he'd been almost 5'6….

Now she would see him…see him very soon and hug him and kiss his cold smoky cheeks and laugh and run and steal some new clothes for Cho. They would keep the uniform…just to laugh over it, just like they would laugh about everything that had happened that day. They would find a new chocolate shop and…and…

"CHO! CHO GET BACK HERE! YOU GAVE ME A FRICKIN' NOSEBLEED!!" The boy's voice interrupted Cho's cherry chocolate plans. She turned and glared at the boy…Mello.

"WHAT!?" she asked, annoyed.

"I just told you WHAT! Now come help me!"

"No! We're in a hurry and I don't even KNOW you!"

Mello sighed and pouted, glaring at Cho through his hard aqua eyes. Cho raised her eyebrows.

"If you can pout like that your nose is _fine._" She said

"HAH! You DID hear me!" Mello triumphantly leapt up, his fists clenched.

"You ARE fine!" Cho observed and grabbed his hand again, ready to go.

Mello made a pissed off noise in his throat and reluctantly let Cho propel him on. They turned a corner finally, Cho began to go even faster, her feet kicking up and her teeth grinding and clacking and her feet sliding like little ice cubes.

"YAAHHHHH!!!" Mello screamed as he slid towards a tall pole.

They turned just in time. Mello had been centimeters away from a broken AND bloody nose.

"BROTHER!!!!!!!" screamed Cho and she let go of the blond temporary acquaintance as she dashed like mad for what looked like a forlorn cardboard box.

It all seemed to go in slow motion, like one of those old movies. Cho was running and running and her angelic features spread into a giant smile. Her brother. Her brother. Her brother. Her brother. There he was! Wasn't that him??? Yes…yes…

Then, the slow-mo ended. Somewhere someone died and somewhere someone was born. The world kept on going. Spinning and spinning and somewhere it was night and somewhere Cho was standing and staring at the empty, dead, torn cardboard box like the child who somewhere had just lost her brother.

Just like Cho.

The box was empty.

Cho's brother was gone…..for good.


	5. Red on White

**I'm starting to do my chapters a little shorter, but so what? Easier to read and less to type. I have been updating like mad on this story and on none of my others so...phew!!!**

** Sorry this is so sad right now...it'll perk-ish up next chapter...hopefully! **

5

"Cho? Cho? Cho?" His blood was dripping on the ground. On the sticky snow from the first snowfall. It was red. Bright red. Why blood, why always blood? Why did it exist?

Why wasn't he here?

Why did he leave Cho alone? Why didn't Cho, that stupidstupidstupidstupid little girl just stay? Why had her brother gotten that cherry-chocolate calendar? Why did the company MAKE it? Why, why, why!? Too many questions and not enough answers. Not enough time to cry. Cho felt that pain in her heart from too many questions…too many unanswered stupidstupidstupidstupid questions.

If it hurt too much to love someone and they ditched you, was it worth it? Why, why, why, why?

"Cho?! CHO!!!!" Mello grabbed the girl around the shoulders and shook her. Shook all the whys, all the questions out of her. She collapsed. Now free of everything. Everything she felt had been in those thoughts and now they were further away than anything else.

"Cho? Cho….?" Mello's stomach lurched. What had happened…was she dead? No, it can't be!

The small black haired girl opened her eyes slightly and murmured something softly…something that sounded like "_No, no, no, no, no."_

A droplet of blood from Mello fell onto her alabaster forehead, dripping down over her long bangs….

Mello held his nose, feeling the red thin blood drip into it.

"Come on…" he murmured and looked up into the air where the sky was filled with swirling, whirling little pieces of ice that blew and spun and…he tore himself away and turned to look down at the girl in his arms.

"Come on." He said again, but this time he meant it. Pulling Cho up by her arms, he let her fall over onto his shoulder, her small weight resting on him. Sighing softly, he fully lifted her bridal style.

"Here we go." Mello thought Cho relaxed once in his grasp, but it might have just been his imagination. She was light, her looks were not deceiving, so the boy began carrying her back along the streets, no clear idea where they were headed.

The snow fell faster and it got colder, the clouds parting to reveal the velvety sky and its pearl-like moon. The streets emptied gradually, though more heavily patrolled than in the 1800s, Manchester was just as dangerous in the night. Mello walked faster, his head bent, hoping he was going the right direction.

"_Damn you, Near."_ He thought for no apparent reason. He tended to think/say that when in a difficult situation. Why couldn't Near have been there instead of him? Why him?

Cho sighed and moved slightly in Mello's arms, her eyelids fluttering slightly.

"Hey…"she said softly. Her eyes widened and she took in her surroundings. Her eyes fell on Mello with indignation.

"What's wrong with you?! Put me DOWN!" she shouted, her fists clenched. Mello dropped her in surprise, letting the girl clatter onto the ground where she knelt for a couple seconds before fully recovered.

"Are you…erm…?"

"I'm fine." The reply was choked and broken off.

"Why did you fall down in front of that…box thing? Do you hallucinate?" Mello helped Cho up to her feet where she turned, her blackberry hair shining even in the near black.

"It's not a box thing." Cho answered: her voice a whisper.

Mello made the connection and looked down at his feet. "Oh." He said.

"Oh what?" Cho said.

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"What for? I was happy until that stupid vendor turned into a red cloaked demon and chased me."

Mello squinted at Cho's figure in the darkness. Was she crazy?

"Sorry." Cho sniffed and wiped her nose with one hand, her back still facing Mello.

"'S okay." Mello wasn't usually like this. He was usually hard and would have laughed at Cho for passing out on any normal basis, as he expected anyone else to do to him. But the girl had just realized she was alone, so what else could he do?

"We should…go back." The girl whispered, seemingly unable to do anymore.

"Yeah. Let's go!" Mello was pleased at the thought. It was getting colder and darker all the time.

The two stood and began sprinting back towards the orphanage. The snow had stopped. Cho didn't feel that great anymore. In fact she felt horrible.

Mello glanced over at her: even in the dark he couldn't miss the silvery tears running down her cheeks.

**:( I feel bad for Cho. **


	6. Running

**This is actually more of a psychological chapter, though it doens't seem like it...**

** This is my idea of what Cho looks like in this me YOUR links...what did you think she looked like? Submit as much as possible if you want to! I'll have questions like this every once in a while...:) **

6

When Cho opened her eyes she was in her bed. She didn't really remember anything about the night-before after the empty shack, except for running and crying and reaching the orphanage…

Now she was cold. It was freezing actually, and Cho had collapsed on top of her covers, not bothering to take off her dirty tennis shoes or anything. Her shoes had left messy wet marks on the creamy white cover, making it appear stained, more than it actually was. Something crumpled under Cho's chest as she turned over to get up. Gasping, she pulled back in surprise to see what it was. New clothes!

A smile crossing her face, Cho rose hurriedly and finger combed her long hair, reaching back down to her butt to get the edges. The curtains were open. Cho closed them quickly, dragging off her wet and torn uniform to pull on the new stuff.

A fitting short sleeve black tank top (a large white skull in the middle) was paired with red-and-green plaid arm warmers that reached down into becoming fingerless gloves. The rest of the outfit was simple: dark wash jeans and a new pair of Black high-tops. Cho pulled her hair back into a ponytail, silently thanking whoever had done this for her. In an unexplained hurry to get down to breakfast, the newly clothed girl bumped backwards into the little foreboding cabinet. It flipped open…it was filled with new clothes for Cho!

She squealed and once again thanked the mysterious giver of clothes.

Outside, unlike last night, the hall was filled with kids, none of whom were of the female gender, inevitably.

Peering around for someone she might slightly acknowledge, Cho spun, looking a lot like a Disney character in her new palace. Obviously, Disney storylines don't really work out in real life, hence the crimson-violet eyed girl ramming into someone.

"Ouch!" she said loudly, falling back onto her backside. She looked up accusingly to see none other than Near staring at her, his pale skin even more unnatural in the morning light.

"Sorry." He said, and turned away.

"Oh, yeah! That reminds me!" Uninvited, Cho grabbed Near's hand and pulled herself up, undoubting he could hold her up. Near turned back around, a spark of annoyance in his eyes. Cho continued, ignoring his expression. "I'm sorry about last night. Mello basically attacked me." She lied effortlessly, even though it was obvious her "facts" were wrong.

Near closed his eyes briefly, as if surprised she'd the guts to lie like that, then shook his hair and looked at her again, as if for the first time.

"Do you want to walk down to breakfast together, to make up for it?" The albino answered. It was more of a command than a question, Near wasn't used to people saying no to him. Cho said the N-word Near wasn't used to, accompanied by a thanks and waved, smiling sweetly.

Near bit his top lip and just calmly followed her. She noticed immediately, her skinny self tensing up and not turning around.

"I'll follow you anyways." Near said, adding a small impish grin to his words.

Cho turned and flashed her oddly colored eyes at him, saying: "_Try me."_

She took off and spun into another corridor, shoving people out of her way. Near couldn't wipe the rare smile off his face. It was too obvious. Near wouldn't have to run a step. Cho would leave a wide, wild trail wherever she went.

Focusing hard, Cho ran as fast and hard as she could. She didn't know why she was running away from Near. He was so little, seriously even shorter than she was and at 4'6, that was SHORT!

She ran down the long, clackety, stairs, jumping over and shoving people out of the way. Then WHAM! She collided headfirst with someone else. This time it was L, who looked down at her in mild amusement.

"Uhh…yes?" he asked as Cho started to push by him. He caught her by the wrist.

"I'm running away!" she said, snapping at the air like a wild animal.

"Obviously." He slowly let her hand slip out of hers and watched the odd little girl racing away, completely oblivious to the fact that was what she would be doing her hole life.

Running away. But from what?


	7. Neon Announcement

**I'm sorry for the uncharacteristic delay...I am becoming a little less "into" Death Note. BUT THAT DOES NOT MEAN I WILL STOP WRITING THIS!!!! DOn't worry...if you are.**

7

**2:45 p.m- History**

Cho stared at the two blunt words, biting her lip. She hadn't seen Mello or Near since the 2nd and 3rd periods of the day. That hadn't been bad, since two weeks ago a new girl had transferred into the 12-year-old class. "Anna-Sofia" was quiet and small, with wispy mouse colored hair and oversized green eyes. Cho liked her a lot. She was easy to hang around.

It had been almost a year since she'd gotten here and life wasn't all that bad, given. Her brother was everywhere, but nowhere. Every time Cho turned she saw him, cigarette dangling under his red-brown hair, waving at her casually. But then he wasn't there. But was he? That was the hard part: was it one of Cho's "ghost's" she saw, or just an illusion?

The black haired girl slid smoothly into the humanities room, snagging a seat near the back with all the other troublemakers. She hadn't done anything yet, but planned to. To Mello…maybe, if Near didn't stop flirting with her or smirking at her, or whatever he was doing all the time to her.

The seat beside her slid out with a crack. Cho glanced upwards. It was Mello, black skullcap pulled low over his azure eyes.

Cho turned away and folded her small arms over her desk, waiting for class to start.

The year had changed both of them.

Cho's hair had grown and she took the name of the class's slightly wild punk, as well as class cutie among a couple of the boys. She had stayed her general size; though she ate almost as much as Mello she was skinny and pale.

Mello was taller and more mature. Not really in a good way. For one thing, he had become a Catholic and always wore an old rosary around his neck. His hair had grown longer and hung in his eyes. Most of the school's female population were either terrified or in love with the boy. Cho was neither. She was alone and though mostly famed, ignored it. Her usual friends were Anna Sofia (at the moment) and (if he was on behavior) Mello.

"Hey." Mello dropped himself down into the seat beside her, swinging his legs around towards her. They hadn't talked in a while.

"What's up, Mel?" asked the girl smiling under her bangs.

"Oh, the usual. I got a new magazine. From the last week."

Cho turned around, trying to appear only half-interested. "That's old, Mello." The wiry boy ignored her and slid one gloved hand into his back pocket. When the hand returned it was holding one very rolled up magazine. Cho snagged it and spun back around, sticking her pink tongue out at Mello.

"Hey! Crap, that's mine!" The blonde grabbed Cho's narrow shoulders and pulled her backwards. She screamed and toppled over into his lap, her face staring up at him.

"What the…?" she made a disgusted sound and pulled herself back up onto her seat, magazine in hands.

"C'mon Cho! That has a thing on Misa-Misa in it! And you _know _you I feel about her!" Mello begged as Cho flipped it open to the contents page.

"No. Not really…other than the fact you go cross-eyed when you saw her in that-…"

Mello cut Cho off with a swift whack in the mouth. Just as the slightly-traumatized looking teacher walked in.

"OWWWWWWWWWW!" Cho whined loudly.

"Mello?! What are you doing to Cho?" Hands on hips the rather short teacher looked just short of slightly-almost threatening.

Mello sighed and glared at Cho, who blinked her eyes innocently and puffed out her bottom lip.

"Hey! She's the one who stole my magazine! And my…hand…slipped." The blond tried to relieve himself of another trip to the office. Another one he didn't deserve and that freakin' Near did.

Cho dropped her fake innocent personality.

"And what kind of magazine was it Mello? A stolen yaoi/yuri manga….WITH a feature on that underage model Misa Amane!" she growled, spinning on her desk partner.

The teacher sighed, hands dropping to knead her forehead. "Cho and Mello. Do you know what? I'll give you a caution. Next problem you're in the office."

Cho sprang up like a wild horse, hair whipping around. "WHAT?! HE WAS THE ONE WHO-!"

Baki-sensei looked up at Cho with possessed eyes that bore through Cho like a knife. She backed down, pouting.

Why did_she always get in trouble!_ Shooting a brave glare at Mello, the twelve-year-old girl settled back into her chair, arms folded.

Medieval history….another boring (of course) lesson, but kind of interesting. The Black Death was so disgusting! Cho loved it! Those black bruises all over the skin….simply awesome. That was the only good part. Otherwise: the Crusades didn't have enough graphic pictures, the hangings and cutting off heads didn't have enough variation, and castles were smelly and cold.

After another dull and arduous lecture on crusaders, thanks to Baki-sensei, Cho leaned over to Mello, who had a watch in his pocket.

"What _time _is it?" she hissed, tucking a naughty strand of hair behind her ear. Mello looked halfway over his shoulder and shrugged lazily. Cho made an annoyed sound in her throat and sat back hard against her chair.

"Well." The rather short sensei took a deep breath: summoning up that big voice must take effort for such a diminutive frame. "I would like to pass these out to you." She began, holding up a stack of neon orange papers. "Then you are dismissed." There was a collective sigh of relief.

Slowly, Baki-sensei began to round the room, a piece of orange paper disappearing from her hand at every stop. There were gasps, squeals, and even a few

"Omigods!" from girls.

Cho waited with anticipation, slapping her feet against the ground. Finally, Baki-sensei stopped at Cho and Mello. But she didn't give them a paper.

"Cho. Mello. This is a very special privilege and will ONLY be given if _NEITHER_of you act up within the next two days."

"Okay, okay." Mello said impatiently and snatched for a paper, falling forward over his desk.

"Yes ma'am." Cho said patiently, fluttering her eyelids sweetly.

Baki-sensei beamed at Cho, easily deceived and passed her a sheet, which Cho pounced upon, all traces of innocence gone from her features.

The short-stature teacher sighed, and then slowly passed Mello a sheet, unable to refuse.

Both young teens gasped in joy as they peered upon the page.

**CLASS TRIP (AGES 12-18)**

**DESTINATION: YAEYAMA ISLANDS (swimming, hiking)**

**DATES: AUGUST 4-11**

Cho leaned over towards Mello, heart thumping, "What's today?" she asked in his ear, though they were free to speak openly.

Mello squinted "Uh…the 2nd!" He said in a normal tone.

Two days! Cho didn't know if she could wait that long. She immediately, gathered her books and not bothering to say good-bye to Mello, bounced up towards the front of the room, shoving past a few ecstatic groups on the way. She doubted there would be any rejections for this trip! Still, Cho hurried over to Anna Sofia, long hair flowing behind her.

Anna Sofia smiled a rare grin and waved her friend over. Cho dropped her books on Anna Sofia's absent partner's desk and leaned down.

"You goin'?" she began in a flurry. "Never mind. I'll MAKE you go! But, anyways do you plan to?"

Anna Sofia nodded, looking taken aback. "Just because I'm quiet doesn't mean I don't like fun!" she said softly, her small voice contradicting her words.

"Sometimes it does!" Cho said, scrunching up her nose. Cho always thought she knew everything.

Later, after class, Cho dashed up to her room, still on adrenaline rush. Half singing Kesenai Yumi and half getting up onto the window seat, she thrust the window open and leaned out over the sheer drop between her window and the one of the person across the hall. Cho reached over and knocked a quick three raps that reverberated on her knuckles afterwards.

There was a pause where Cho pulled her self back onto the window sill and the window across was silent. Then, slowly, the window smoothly slid open. In the shadows sat the boy Cho usually avoided during class------Near.

"Yes? What now, Cho? You know I don't like daylight." Near said in his sarcastic monotone.

"Nothing, nothing." Cho began, sitting back with her arms folded. "JUST THE BIGGEST TRIP OF THE YEAR!!!!" she popped forward, her eyes wide. Near was unaffected, coal black eyes dark.

He nodded. "I know." He said through his lips.

"Anddd……?" Cho folded her arms over her chest, pushing her self forward so far others would fear for their lives.

Near pulled a small robot toy out from under his seat, emotionless. "I'm going. It would be rather dull here myself. The sun is okay. I'm sure there are trees." He said softly. Could Cho hear a hint of nervous edge on his voice?

"Good." She said simply, closing her eyes and pulling herself back into safe zone. "I expected that."

**LoL! It took me like three weeks to write this since I got bored...**


	8. Michelle

**Michelle (in this chapter) is the rp character of Eternal-Explosionist, my good reviewer and PMer. You can read her story (9 millimeters) which is now complete. :( TRY AND CONVINCE HER TO BRING MICHELLE BACK!! LoL:P**

**Half-kidding. ONLY HALF! **

8

Two days later, the halls were practically alive on their feet as Cho shoved her new bathing suit into an overstuffed suitcase. Cho wasn't in any trouble as far as she knew, so Baki-sensei had no authority over her trip now. Even if she had been banned, the slight girl would probably have somehow escaped with the giant crowd heading for Yaeyama.

Lifting up her baggage was easier said than done for a 60-some pound girl. Heck, it probably was more than half of her weight! Grunting, Cho somehow began the process of yanking it backwards out the door, half-tumbling over her own high-tops. God help her with the stairs. Sticking out her tongue at a couple of melancholy 11-year-olds, she pulled out into the hallway which was twice as crowded today, with the extra responsibility of bags. Countless feet scuffed the pavement as teens of all ages pulled/carried/dragged their suitcases along with them. Many girls had their arms linked around a friends bag, and were triumphantly creating a mini-train with their maze of girlish arms and bodies and bags. A few boys were doing similar, though they mannishly lugged them on their backs, noses to the floor. Cho giggled as a small black-haired boy tumbled to the ground: oversized bag and equally-sized friend coming along.

The little half-crushed boy blushed and turned away as he saw Cho.

"Need some help?" Came a voice in Cho's ear. She swung around, dropping her bag to se L, slouching over her: eyes wide.

The girl screwed up her lips and gave L sizing-up look. Then she remembered the stairs.

"Aw, pshaw! FINE!" she turned away from the strange, slouching man and began to lug her suitcase once again. The heaviness was suddenly lifted away as L picked one end up and began to follow Cho through the moving mass of kids.

"Outta the way, freak!"

"Move your BUTT (make that all capitals, it's worth it)!"

Cho could be heard from a mile away as she began careening down the hall, L behind her, holding most of her heavy baggage.

"Uh…Ms. Cho? Miss Cho?" L raised his nonexistent eyebrows slightly as Cho began to run.

"What?" Cho asked, not turning. L let go of the suitcase with one hand, making Cho slump down with the weight.

"The ride to the airport for Yaeyama is _that _way." He pointed out. "Unless you would like to go to Las Angeles City with Watari and I to solve a murder case, I would suggest turning around."

Cho turned bright red as she slowly began to turn the other direction. "Oh…I…KNEW THAT!!! HA! YOU FELL FOR IT!"

L rolled his eyes and kneaded his forehead, following Cho down the hall…in the right direction.

After Cho had successfully boarded the airplane to Japan, she stood at the front of the 2nd Class Section, clutching a handful of her hair in one hand. Her eyes skimmed over the passengers seated, armed with tabloids and complimentary pretzels. She couldn't quite see anyone from Whammy's House, other than a few bored looking brunettes a couple grades older than herself. Anna Sofia had been divided onto another flight and Cho was alone now. This was rare for her. She felt strangely lost. Her stomach twisted with the plane and a voice crackled on over the monitors.

"_Please be seated as the plane takes off."_

Gasping for a quick burst of air, Cho began to hurry down the aisles, feet pounding on the ground.

"Seat…seat. Seat…" she continued on, feet tripping over one another. "Seat!" Cho readily pulled herself into an empty aisle seat, barely noticing the window seat was full.

Seconds later, the plane began to bop along the runway, gaining speed as it hurried along. Cho squealed in delight-shock as she flew forward against the chair in front of her, causing the elderly man in it to jerk wildly, glasses amiss.

Cho's unnamed partner leaned forward, mistaking Cho's squeal for pain.

"Hey, you okay?!" she asked, adjusting her black messenger hat over her short blonde hair. Cho turned in surprise, eyes wide.

"Oh…yeah! I'm fine!" she said in her usual spark. The raven-head surveyed the blonde in more depth. She was slender and a little taller than Cho, with the foresaid short blonde hair. Her eyes were currently wide and azure, looking at Cho with the same interest Cho probably expressed at her.

Finally, the new girl stuck out her hand, just as the plane roared into the sky. Cho's ears began popping with the sudden altitude change.

"I'm Michelle….Michelle…." she hesitated "Keehl!" she shouted.

Cho stuck out her hand as well, this one covered in a fingerless glove.

"Cho….Noir." The last name came to her in a sudden blast of knowledge. It meant black in French….right? That would be the name "Black Butterfly," roughly. It sounded good.

At that second, the plane jerked back, throwing both Michelle and Cho back onto their seats. Cho started the giggle, not bothering to cover her mouth. Michelle didn't join in, yet smiled, leaning forward so that the messenger hat fell over her eyes.

Cho stopped suddenly, eyes wide. "Hey! You go to Whammy's House? You goin' to Yaeyama?"

Michelle straightened and nodded slightly, barely smiling.

"Really? COOL!!! We can hang out in the cabins and swim together and----hey….Crap! You look like Mello when you squint like that!" Cho turned her head sideways and tried to imitate Michelle's unsure squint.

"Mello? That's my---." Michelle began.

Cho cut her off, bouncing up and down. "You know him? Well some days he can be really obnoxious and others he's nice and some he's just plain perverted! So, how do you know him?"

Michelle shook her head, smiling. "He's my _brother_!"

"WOAH!! WHAT? MELLO HAS A SISTER?? TOTALLY HARD!" Cho leaned forward, grasping Michelle by the shoulder.

"That's me!" Michelle stuck one finger in the air and smiled her slightly guarded smile. Cho pumped her fist.

"Cool! I never knew that…."

Maybe this trip would keep getting better!

Cho and her new friend spent the rest of the trip doing the thing you do with friends you just met. Smile. A lot. Every time your eyes come into contact, a big silly grin attaches itself to your face.

"So, Mello's last name is Keehl?"

"Technically. His first name isn't Mello though." Michelle was doing another big nervous grin. "They had us choose fake names. You?"

Cho played with a strand of hair and kicked the seat of the now rather green old man, rhythmically.

"I _just_ made up the Noir part when I was talking to you, but Cho has been my name for 12-years." She said.

Michelle nodded her head and opened her complimentary pretzels, quiet, waiting for Cho to go on. Cho saw this and racked her brain for something interesting.

"I had a brother." She said finally, her kicking coming to a stop. Michelle picked up the "had" part and lowered her eyes away from Cho's red-purple ones.

Cho went on without hesitating. "His name was…well…I can't tell you. He told me to stay quiet about it. But he had red-brown hair and smoked cigarettes. He was a year older than me and liked to wear stripes." Cho giggled. "He looked like a big ugly candy cane. The number one thing he wanted in life…" Cho's voice now had a catch. "Was a Nintendo DS. Red. With the game Super Mario Bros."

She looked at Michelle. Michelle nodded again encouraging her.

"But I think he's dead now. The day I came to the orphanage…on the walk…I came looking for him. He…wasn't there. He would have definitely been. He's dead. I don't know how, but I know and feel it." Cho was quiet and so was Michelle. Finally, Michelle took Cho's hand and squeezed it.

"I'm so sorry Cho." She murmured. "I feel you here." With one hand, she tapped her chest. "I've never lost anyone like that…other than my parents, but I know how you feel."

"How did you lose your parents?" Cho sat back on the seat and gathered her knees up to her chest, ready for a story. But Michelle shook her head.

"That's enough for now."

Cho played with her hair again. It was becoming a habit. "Why is it enough?" she asked, sounding rather like a child deprived of a bedtime story.

"Sometimes you can only have so much sadness in one part of life. You can't live on misery or drink it in like a good movie. It's not a good part of life." Michelle sighed on the last part.

Cho felt sick suddenly. Standing, she apologized to her blonde friend and ran down the hallway towards the toilets. They were full. A luggage cart stood nearby, with a sticker on it proclaiming "Holiday Inn (Japan)" in the classic font. It was full of clothes that were hanging like they would if in a closet. Cho bent down, finding the bottom and sat back, gathering her legs up like she had back at her seat. Slowly, she began rocking back and forth, back and forth, eyes closed.

"_Cho, you're being stupid." He said in her ear, his breath tickling her eardrum. Little Cho spun, her back to the boy. "No, I'm not. I will NOT go into a stinky old doctors office." She sneezed, her red nose dribbling._

_Her brother bent down again and pinched the scarce skin around her spine that the winter frost could have frozen into an icicle by now. "You're looking like such a skinny little girl, Butterfly. Mom would hate it." He said, a smile playing on his lips. "And anyway, I need my check up." _

"_Who was mom?" Cho cast a scornful look at the striped sibling. He looked down and sighed. _

"_You know you remember her." _

"_What if I DON'T?"_

"_You have talked about her before." _

"_I was guessing."_

"_You've fought with me about the expansion of your memory of her."_

"_I was lying."_

"_You cried Cho. You only cry when you mean it." _

_Cho folded her arms and sneezed again, changing the subject. "I'm NOT going into a doctor's office. People die in there!" she said, stamping her foot. _

"_You're nine years old Cho. And I'm barely ten. We aren't going to _die_."_

_She looked away, defiant. _

"_Fine then." There was a chuckle in his voice that usually was the cue for Cho to start running. With one hand, he lifted her under his arm and carried her into the office. _

Cho couldn't remember much about the doctor's office, other than the fact that the measuring and testing instruments were cold and that Brother had been given a prescription for Cho's cold which he had later on snagged from a pharmacy on the way home. Without paying.

Cho heard footsteps and then, in front of her was Michelle, big blue eyes worried and wide. She bent down, seeing Cho's strained and pale face mashed in with the clothes on the cart.

"Cho?" she asked carefully. Cho looked at Michelle with guarded eyes. Michelle seemed careful. Like she chose her words with great patience and thought. It was how Cho felt now.

"Cho?" Michelle asked again, now bending down and placing her hand on Cho's spine. Just like when she was nine, it stuck out from the rest of her back. "Are you all right? You look…sad." Mello's sister squatted on the floor, looking sad for her new friend.

"I'm fine." Cho said tightly. "I fell asleep and this is how I look when I'm tired." Her lie slipped out easily, just like all her other ones had and would.

But Michelle twisted her lips like she smelled something rotten. Cho looked up at her innocently. "What?"

The expression on Michelle's features went blank and she held out a hand, straightening a bit. "Come on! Before someone takes our seats."

The blackberry haired girl sighed and followed Michelle back to their seats, where they sat for the rest of the 15 hours of the flight talking or reading or eating. When they slept, Michelle woke with Cho one her shoulder. Softly peeling her off and seating her upright, half awake Michelle had smiled softly.

Indeed. This trip might be a lot of fun after all.

**I need ideas for what is actually going to HAPPEN on yaeyama. sighs I'm lost. I thought it'd be a good twist BUT I NEED SUPPORT AND IDEAS!**

**Peace out till next time!**

** -Aki **


	9. DoubleBed

**Thanks so much for all th kind and caring suggestions..**..**Sorry this chapter was so short but people were getting kind of impatient (don't worry, thats not a bad thing) and I decided I didn't have time for a long one:(  
**

9

Arms linked, Michelle and Cho marched into "Seaside Hotel" courtesy of Yaeyama Islands.

"Watashi wa Cho desu." Cho stuttered brokenly, her nose screwed up. Michelle laughed. She had become much more open with Cho after almost 20 hours of straight flight (not counting the short gas tank fill up in Russia) and laughed and smiled more openly now.

The birds overhead and the children all around made Cho feel incredibly alive. Eyes sparkling like exquisite jewels, she let go of Michelle and spun around, hair whipping her friend in the face.

"Mmrf." Michelle managed, smelling Cho's cherry chocolate scented shampoo in her face. Cho giggled and lugged her suitcase along with obvious adrenaline.

"Too much for ya?" she asked, sticking out her tongue.

Just then, both girls heard an exasperated moan. Linking their arms back together, both girls spun to see none other than Mello scowling at them, arms folded. His mussed hair and bleary glare showed he had NOT had a good night. Michelle blushed and looked down just as Cho cracked up.

"You look like hell!" she howled, holding her stomach and letting go of her suitcase.

"God. Both of you together? This must be punishment for my sin of---"Mello moaned in a slightly pious voice. Cho cut him off, knocking him in the face.

"Stop being so holy, idiot!" she growled. Mello rubbed his nose.

"Oh, so now you make fun of my religion. Yesterday it was my…somewhat…girlish looks but now you doubt God…" Mello's words contradicted his fiery glare, which looked as miserable as the pits of hell where he surely thought Cho would ascend.

"I'm Buddhist…not strict but its still there." She said, hands on hips.

"Well, well. Do you want to know what I think of Buddhi-?!"

Michelle held up her hand, shaking wildly.

"No Mello! Cho! Please! Stop…flirting-

("**WE ARE NOT FLIRTING!")**

"Or fighting…or whatever you're doing." She said in a calm voice.

"Whatever." Cho's good mood had ascended a bit. She grabbed Michelle's hands and motioned to Mello roughly. "C'mon…I'm a gonna check out the room assignments." She said, marching for a crowd of students pointing at a prominent white sign.

"Move it!"

"Comin' through!"

Similar to yesterday morning, Cho shoved her way to the front, Michelle rolling her eyes and making quick apologies as she was dragged along by her petite conductor.

Shoving a last couple aside, Cho stood spread-legged in front of the sign. Using her finger as a guide, she hurried her way down the rows of names and rooms.

"Oh…okay…Anna Sofia's over there and Near's over there…whew…pervert."

Michelle nudged Cho's shoulder. "Near is not a-!"

Cho waved her hands nonchalantly. "Yes, he is….oh…my…crap…"

She stopped her finger on a room assignment near the bottom.

**Room 13**

**Mello Keehl Michelle Keehl**

**Cho Near Rivers**

Michelle let out a choked laugh.

"Poor you, Cho…" she said sympathetically, half laughing.

"Yes…poor me." Cho kicked the ground and groaned.

A spurt of cuss words issued from Mello. He had obviously seen Unlucky Number 13 too. Cho groaned even louder, glancing at Mello with a half-sick look.

Michelle rolled her eyes again. It was only too obvious.

"I didn't draw the curtains. I know you oddities enjoy the sunlight." Near murmured, barely glancing up from his superheroes. He was donned in a heavy white hoodie and matching jeans.

"Thanks, Near." Michelle said, smiling sweetly at the boy. Cho just scrunched up her nose. She had to admit it was nice of him, especially with Mello in the same room. He was a pretty nice boy, but Cho still didn't exactly favor him.

"Whatever. I call the window bed." She said. "I also call _whoever _calls whatever gets it."

"Okay." Michelle agreed daringly. "I don't like window beds, I prefer the other one."

"Floor." Said Near, not wanting to share a bed with a girl.

"Aw, Near you don't have to---!" Michelle was cut off with a look from Near. Cho smirked at him.

"Where's Mello?" asked Michelle, changing the subject.

Cho looked up and shrugged. "Probably pouting or something because of his room. Or he could be about to barge in right---!"

"I'm here idiots, what do you want!" Mello's perfectly timed entry sent the girls into hilarious giggles while Near only waved one hand dismissively.

Lugging his bag up over one skinny shoulder Mello snorted. "I am hilarious aren't I? While you're enjoying my act I claim window bed AND whoever calls it gets it!"

Cho stopped laughing abruptly and paled eyes wide.

"You sure you wanna call whoever calls it gets it?" she asked in a squeak.

"Yeah. No take backs. Why?" Mello asked casually, setting his bag on the red duvet of the bed.

"Um…" Cho gulped, for once looking nervous. "_I _called the same exact things."

This time it was Mello who paled. "You don't mean we---?" he asked, voice cracking. His shoulders began rising and falling rapidly.

"No take backs." Near said from the floor: a smirk in his voice.

Michelle smiled sweetly. "No take backs. I've _gotta _see this!"

Cho screamed and dove on the bed, hands over her ears.

"You….are….kidding." she managed. "Me and Mello have to share a _bed?_"

**LoL! Cliffhanger much? Hope you enjoyed! I'll do better next chapter!**


	10. Yaeyama

"This," Cho said pointedly, drawing an imaginary line across the bed. "Is MY side."

"WHAT! No way! That is like, 5 times the size of my side!"

"Yeah, well. Ladies first."

"I'm bigger than you…by like a ton!"

"Why do you keep saying "like"? It's getting on my nerves."

Mello folded his arms and narrowed blue eyes at her. "I…do…that…when…I…am…mad…be…cause…I…have…to…share…a…bed…with…a…stupid…FRICKING…GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!" he choked out, his pupils small enough they could have been the little dark red dots on the crimson bedspread. Cho's blackberry hair stood on end as she leaned forward, nose in a knot.

"WELL IT'S ONLY FAIR YOU B-!"

"I'M NOT A-!"

"OH YES YOU ARE!"

"SHUT UP! ANY OTHER GIRL WOULD BE A BLUSHING OVERJOYED MESS!"

"OR A QUIVERING TANTALIZED TERROR STRUCK LITTLE RABBIT!"

"LIKE YOUR IDIOTIC "FRIEND" ANNA SOFIA????"

"SHE'S NOT A-!"

"OH YES SHE IS!"

"SHUT UP! ANY OTHER GUY WOULD BE AS SOFT AND KIND AS A FUR COAT AROUND HER!"

"OR A DISGUSTED STONED FREAK AT HER FRAIDINESS!"

"LIKE YOUR FRIEND JEB?"

"HE'S NOT A-!"

"OH YES HE IS!"

"SHUT UP! ANY OTHER GIRL WOULD BE A—Hey, wait….didn't we just do this with ME?!" Mello stuck his finger into Cho's chest. Cho pulled away.

"OW! PERVERT!"

"I'M NOT A--!"

"OH YES YOU-!"

Suddenly, Michelle stood up, marched over, and grabbed Cho and Mello around the shoulders.

"Shut. Up. Now."she growled

"But he-!" Cho began, like an indignant child.

"UH-UH!"

"She's the real--!" Mello cut in, embarrassed to be reprimanded by his little sister.

"NNT!" Michelle closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "For one week. ONE WEEK! Can't you two just decide to not cross boundaries…FAIR boundaries, and to…act your age?"

Her eyes plead with all their might. Cho and Mello sighed simultaneously and turned to the mattress. Near watched the whole situation with a bemused look on his small angular face.

"Honeymoon blues. Maybe that _wasn't _such a fab pair." He observed, tossing his white hair as the lights went out.

"Shut. It. Now, faggot." Mello growled from the darkness, like one of hell's angels.

Near's sarcastic snort was the last thing anyone heard.

Well, it would have been if you considered Michelle, Near, and Cho everyone.

Mello turned over onto his back and stared into the swirly, dark, black that he could barely make out. Looking at Cho, her white, white, coconut popsicle skin contrasted against her blackberry hair, and her cherry lips and cheeks, he knew this was going to be a long night.

Just his freaking stupid luck to be stuck in unlucky number thirteen with all these fast sleepers. It was always nice to have Jeb as his roommate, Jeb who had major insomnia and sat up late talking Mello into a sloppy boyish sleep. Now everyone was asleep, and Cho's face was the only thing he could see in the black, her sleeping smile and her long black lashes on her cheeks. How it would be impossible to make her look even mildly ugly and how he felt when she---. No, no he was just tired. Tired and delusional about this immature little (he glanced at her chest), well not _undeveloped_ little girl.

"Well. I can always _try_ to sleep." He thought, and rolled over onto his stomach, face down. Soon, he was seeing all those little patterns you see when you press your eyes against something hard, and he was half asleep, for once. A white swirly pattern came up and he felt like he was falling and falling then-FLUMP. Had he hit the bottom? Was Mello dead. Gasping in panic from this nightmare-like vision, he opened his eyes wide.

It had to have been at least an hour since he last woke. The moonlight had shifted and lay on his face. Yawning and trying to roll over, he realised there was something there…a pressure around his back, round his middle.

"No. Way." He choked, feeling his half-conscious self grow shocked. It couldn't be? Could it? Yeah, prob'ly but still….

_Cho? _Cho was hugging him?! In her sleep. He could feel her skinny arms around him, her soft, thick hair over his shoulder, onto the pillow in front of him. In a way it was kind of comforting. A girl hugging him. At night. And not a bad looking one. No, not at all.

NO MELLO. Don't get caught up thinking like that. It's perverted, sick guy thinking. Still, she would probably move in a couple minutes.

So…just…re…lax…

The white swirlies were back in seconds.

When Cho woke up, it was still dark outside. In fact it was so dark that Cho could barely breathe. She tried to move her head, and then…wait a second…

She could hear muffled giggling and see a flicker of light to the left and there were someone's what felt like arms clenching her tight. Oh. This wasn't the darkness she had her face buried in. It was Mello. Cho let out an earpiercing scream and flew back, smoothing her wild, now tangly (thanks to being smothered in Mello's arms all night) hair and feeling to make sure her oversized Rammstein T-shirt and underwear were fully on.

At that exact second, Mello woke up as well, immediately leaping out of the bed and across the room. His blonde hair was somehow still perfect, though-as always-a little gay looking.

Cho spat out some choice cuss words that would have pleased Billie Joe himself. Mello seemed at a lost for any better and pointed a shaky finger at Cho.

"Exactly." He nodded. "I agree."

"With the f-word? Yeah, you say it enough." Michelle said, recovering from a bout of hysterical giggles. Even Near cracked a genuine smile.

Mello scowled. "Crap." He muttered finally.

There was a knock on the door followed by a child's voice.

"Breakfast in five, cuss-heads." It said then scrambled away, giggling. Mello cracked his knuckles. "They tell, they're dead."

"They would never tell." Near said matter-of-factly, twisting his curly hair around one finger. "It's you Mello. You would murder them."

"Damn right." Mello spat in his hand and smoothed his hair back, confidence boosted.

After breakfast, there a schedule was handed out, also on neon paper, but this time green.

**7:45****-8:45- Breakfast buffet**

**9:00-10:15- Two****-Mile Hike on Mountain (Groups by room assignment) (bring bathing suit, sunscreen)**

**10:15-1:30- Free Time on Beach (towels provided**

**2:00-3:00-Picnic on beach (PB&J on side if you do not enjoy Japanese food)**

**3:00-6:00-Showers, Volleyball, Swimming, Tours**

**6:30-7:30-Dinner in hotel**

**8:00-10:00- Dessert in rooms, relax in hotel pool and rooms**

**10:15-Lights out **

"Whew!" Cho said as she finished. "This already rocks!"

She was right. The kids spent the day running around in the heat. Cho wore her black with hot pink skull bikini all day, Michelle in her baby blue two-piece.

As the sun went down Cho stood outside the hotel, which was yards away from the beach watching the pinky-purpley-orange splattered sunset explode before her. It gave her n unexpected burst of energy, sending her bursting into a flash of speed that would last her the next 2 miles there and back.

_Y__ou always dreamed of the beach. The heat and the sand and the warmth that London never had. You wanted to go to the beach in California, see all the crazies on rollerskates, the __ice cream stands and the hotties with filled-to-the-brim bikini tops. You always said that we would hear the funny Americans with their odd, clangy, mushy accents, and their tanned skin, and their Hollywood. We would stay there all summer and then go to somewhere cold and snowy-never rainy like London- all winter. We would never have to go back to the dreary city of London and my looks and voice would make us richer than Bill Gates. We'd have a house in every country and we would never ever ever grow old. I would find a boyfriend and you a girlfriend, and we'd kiss on the beach with fruit and whipped cream and cherry chocolate and a bonfire. Then we'd lie under the stars and count every single star until they all blended together in their little crystal dotiness. We would become immortal from happiness and live together forever in heaven on the beach. _

_ Now here I am there, but you aren't with me and you probably never ever ever will be and I always will. I want to live and die here and get my pale skin tan and my skinny body strong and healthy from running all over like I am now. And now I can feel the tears on my cheeks and they feel so good, just like my whole body that's running and running and running. But I have to go now, I'm tired and I'm back at the hotel and I'm probably in big trouble with adults you'll never meet. Love you big Bro._

_ Butterfly Girl_


	11. Mello

"This," Cho said pointedly, drawing an imaginary line across the bed. "Is MY side."

"WHAT! No way! That is like, 5 times the size of my side!"

"Yeah, well. Ladies first."

"I'm bigger than you…by like a ton!"

"Why do you keep saying "like"? It's getting on my nerves."

Mello folded his arms and narrowed blue eyes at her. "I…do…that…when…I…am…mad…be…cause…I…have…to…share…a…bed…with…a…stupid…FRICKING…GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!" he choked out, his pupils small enough they could have been the little dark red dots on the crimson bedspread. Cho's blackberry hair stood on end as she leaned forward, nose in a knot.

"WELL IT'S ONLY FAIR YOU B-!"

"I'M NOT A-!"

"OH YES YOU ARE!"

"SHUT UP! ANY OTHER GIRL WOULD BE A BLUSHING OVERJOYED MESS!"

"OR A QUIVERING TANTALIZED TERROR STRUCK LITTLE RABBIT!"

"LIKE YOUR IDIOTIC "FRIEND" ANNA SOFIA????"

"SHE'S NOT A-!"

"OH YES SHE IS!"

"SHUT UP! ANY OTHER GUY WOULD BE AS SOFT AND KIND AS A FUR COAT AROUND HER!"

"OR A DISGUSTED STONED FREAK AT HER FRAIDINESS!"

"LIKE YOUR FRIEND JEB?"

"HE'S NOT A-!"

"OH YES HE IS!"

"SHUT UP! ANY OTHER GIRL WOULD BE A—Hey, wait….didn't we just do this with ME?!" Mello stuck his finger into Cho's chest. Cho pulled away.

"OW! PERVERT!"

"I'M NOT A--!"

"OH YES YOU-!"

Suddenly, Michelle stood up, marched over, and grabbed Cho and Mello around the shoulders.

"Shut. Up. Now."she growled

"But he-!" Cho began, like an indignant child.

"UH-UH!"

"She's the real--!" Mello cut in, embarrassed to be reprimanded by his little sister.

"NNT!" Michelle closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "For one week. ONE WEEK! Can't you two just decide to not cross boundaries…FAIR boundaries, and to…act your age?"

Her eyes plead with all their might. Cho and Mello sighed simultaneously and turned to the mattress. Near watched the whole situation with a bemused look on his small angular face.

"Honeymoon blues. Maybe that _wasn't _such a fab pair." He observed, tossing his white hair as the lights went out.

"Shut. It. Now, faggot." Mello growled from the darkness, like one of hell's angels.

Near's sarcastic snort was the last thing anyone heard.

Well, it would have been if you considered Michelle, Near, and Cho everyone.

Mello turned over onto his back and stared into the swirly, dark, black that he could barely make out. Looking at Cho, her white, white, coconut popsicle skin contrasted against her blackberry hair, and her cherry lips and cheeks, he knew this was going to be a long night.

Just his freaking stupid luck to be stuck in unlucky number thirteen with all these fast sleepers. It was always nice to have Jeb as his roommate, Jeb who had major insomnia and sat up late talking Mello into a sloppy boyish sleep. Now everyone was asleep, and Cho's face was the only thing he could see in the black, her sleeping smile and her long black lashes on her cheeks. How it would be impossible to make her look even mildly ugly and how he felt when she---. No, no he was just tired. Tired and delusional about this immature little (he glanced at her chest), well not _undeveloped_ little girl.

"Well. I can always _try_ to sleep." He thought, and rolled over onto his stomach, face down. Soon, he was seeing all those little patterns you see when you press your eyes against something hard, and he was half asleep, for once. A white swirly pattern came up and he felt like he was falling and falling then-FLUMP. Had he hit the bottom? Was Mello dead. Gasping in panic from this nightmare-like vision, he opened his eyes wide.

It had to have been at least an hour since he last woke. The moonlight had shifted and lay on his face. Yawning and trying to roll over, he realised there was something there…a pressure around his back, round his middle.

"No. Way." He choked, feeling his half-conscious self grow shocked. It couldn't be? Could it? Yeah, prob'ly but still….

_Cho? _Cho was hugging him?! In her sleep. He could feel her skinny arms around him, her soft, thick hair over his shoulder, onto the pillow in front of him. In a way it was kind of comforting. A girl hugging him. At night. And not a bad looking one. No, not at all.

NO MELLO. Don't get caught up thinking like that. It's perverted, sick guy thinking. Still, she would probably move in a couple minutes.

So…just…re…lax…

The white swirlies were back in seconds.

When Cho woke up, it was still dark outside. In fact it was so dark that Cho could barely breathe. She tried to move her head, and then…wait a second…

She could hear muffled giggling and see a flicker of light to the left and there were someone's what felt like arms clenching her tight. Oh. This wasn't the darkness she had her face buried in. It was Mello. Cho let out an earpiercing scream and flew back, smoothing her wild, now tangly (thanks to being smothered in Mello's arms all night) hair and feeling to make sure her oversized Rammstein T-shirt and underwear were fully on.

At that exact second, Mello woke up as well, immediately leaping out of the bed and across the room. His blonde hair was somehow still perfect, though-as always-a little gay looking.

Cho spat out some choice cuss words that would have pleased Billie Joe himself. Mello seemed at a lost for any better and pointed a shaky finger at Cho.

"Exactly." He nodded. "I agree."

"With the f-word? Yeah, you say it enough." Michelle said, recovering from a bout of hysterical giggles. Even Near cracked a genuine smile.

Mello scowled. "Crap." He muttered finally.

There was a knock on the door followed by a child's voice.

"Breakfast in five, cuss-heads." It said then scrambled away, giggling. Mello cracked his knuckles. "They tell, they're dead."

"They would never tell." Near said matter-of-factly, twisting his curly hair around one finger. "It's you Mello. You would murder them."

"Damn right." Mello spat in his hand and smoothed his hair back, confidence boosted.

After breakfast, there a schedule was handed out, also on neon paper, but this time green.

**7:45****-8:45- Breakfast buffet**

**9:00-10:15- Two****-Mile Hike on Mountain (Groups by room assignment) (bring bathing suit, sunscreen)**

**10:15-1:30- Free Time on Beach (towels provided**

**2:00-3:00-Picnic on beach (PB&J on side if you do not enjoy Japanese food)**

**3:00-6:00-Showers, Volleyball, Swimming, Tours**

**6:30-7:30-Dinner in hotel**

**8:00-10:00- Dessert in rooms, relax in hotel pool and rooms**

**10:15-Lights out **

"Whew!" Cho said as she finished. "This already rocks!"

She was right. The kids spent the day running around in the heat. Cho wore her black with hot pink skull bikini all day, Michelle in her baby blue two-piece.

As the sun went down Cho stood outside the hotel, which was yards away from the beach watching the pinky-purpley-orange splattered sunset explode before her. It gave her n unexpected burst of energy, sending her bursting into a flash of speed that would last her the next 2 miles there and back.

_Y__ou always dreamed of the beach. The heat and the sand and the warmth that London never had. You wanted to go to the beach in California, see all the crazies on rollerskates, the __ice cream stands and the hotties with filled-to-the-brim bikini tops. You always said that we would hear the funny Americans with their odd, clangy, mushy accents, and their tanned skin, and their Hollywood. We would stay there all summer and then go to somewhere cold and snowy-never rainy like London- all winter. We would never have to go back to the dreary city of London and my looks and voice would make us richer than Bill Gates. We'd have a house in every country and we would never ever ever grow old. I would find a boyfriend and you a girlfriend, and we'd kiss on the beach with fruit and whipped cream and cherry chocolate and a bonfire. Then we'd lie under the stars and count every single star until they all blended together in their little crystal dotiness. We would become immortal from happiness and live together forever in heaven on the beach. _

_ Now here I am there, but you aren't with me and you probably never ever ever will be and I always will. I want to live and die here and get my pale skin tan and my skinny body strong and healthy from running all over like I am now. And now I can feel the tears on my cheeks and they feel so good, just like my whole body that's running and running and running. But I have to go now, I'm tired and I'm back at the hotel and I'm probably in big trouble with adults you'll never meet. Love you big Bro._

_ Butterfly Girl_

11

Days rolled on like wheels, and by the time three days had passed, Cho felt like it had been hours since she stepped off the cramped plane from London into Japan. Room 13 was in a warp. No one had changed, a relief (everyone agreed Mello would be scary as a nice guy) and a regret (Cho arguing with everyone about everything which led to Mello punching her to her punching him back to Michelle intervening, to Michelle shoved out crying, to Baki-sensei coming to scream at Cho and Mello until their ears bled) but it was all good.

The orphanage ruled their own section of the beach merely by the fear the peace-seeking tourists held of two hundred kids running full-speed at the sparkling blue water. The first day, an overprotective mother on vacation from Hiroshima had tried to sue Wammy's for nearly trampling her baby.

Yet, every vacation holds problems and scary stories (that are funny now) and perfectly horrible disasters. Of course, 200 random children on a beach in the middle of Japan, all with boundless amounts of energy, will attract one or two more problems than intended.

It all started like this

"Hey! Take a look at that!" Cho's finger was pointing at a giant rockside that the children had passed everyday, that she had barely ever noticed. "I bet _no one_ could climb that."

"I so could." Mello said, having noticed the rock before. He barely knew the limits of his strength, but definitely had enough endurance. Cho rolld her eyes and ignored him, trying to avoid another ear-pounding from BAKA-sensei.

"See it Michelle?" she asked, nailing her friend in the rib with a badly aimed nudge. Michelle rubbed her ribs and squinted up quickly at the rock to be polite. She'd noticed it as well.

"Uh-huh. Cool. Now let's go, we're falling behind." She said, pulling Cho by the wrist hurriedly.

Near was at Cho's shoulder.

"We've passed that cliffside EVERY day and you haven't noticed it." He commented.

"Really?!" Cho shoved her face in Near's, genuinely interested.

"Yes." Near said, showing no emotion. "Little Miss Mindless."

"Taller than you!" Cho giggled, hurrying up to find Michelle again. Near sighed and stared up at the rock, his wide lilac eyes silent and observing. He had somewhat hoped she wouldn't notice it. She would most ultimately think she ould climb it---or would dare Mello to, and that was nothing but trouble. As he watched Cho wrap her arm around Mello and point at the rock, Mello shaking his head and laughing then nodding he groaned inwardly. He'd have to keep them busy.

"Not this trip." Mello said. "If I die, Michelle will cry and I'm not _that _stupid. Neither are you."

"You're scared." Cho decided, tossing her hair and smiling. "I won't make you do it. If you did I'd…kiss you." She decided brokenly, shrugging.

Mello's eyes got wide and his cheeks turned an unnatural shade of pink. "Naw way. Now I'm totally off it." He said. Cho laughed, burying her head in the nape of his neck. He felt himself turn redder.

He would set off that afternoon. Maybe just a couple feet or so---test it out.

Later on that day, Cho took a swim in the beach. She had found the joy the water..the snow…anything cold brought to her. It rushed through her veins and made her warm body cold as the ice she felt like she was made of when submerged underwater. Michelle sat on the beach watching her, wearing a pair of sunglasses and drinking lemonade.

"Cho! Come on up here!" she called for the second time in the past half hour. "The water can wait! Roger made lemonade! That won't last!"

Cho came up, having somehow heard Michelle and shook her head.

"Ten more minutes Michelle! Save me a cup or two!" she said, throwing her hair back over her shoulders. Water drops splayed out across the sunny afternoon, like a small pixelation in its perfection. Cho let herself fall back into the water, head curved down and out like one of those supermodels on TV. She entered the water, eyes closed, feeling every particle of sand that brushed her arm.

Michelle, unknown of the spectacle Cho was feeling sighed and waited for her to remerge from the watery depths. It was hot out and she was getting a little impatient. No one else was out in this part of the water. Michelle didn't really want to be. She had a strange, unnamed urge. The kind you get when you are ignoring something that needs to be done. She just needed someone to tell her what it was.

Cho came up finally.

"Cho." Michelle sighed, tucking her blonde hair behind her ear. "Come on. _Please_."

Cho heard the note of desperation in her friend's usually mellow voice and rolled her eyes.

"Fine. Michi. I'm coming out. That lemonade better be REAL good." She trotted out of the aqua surf, kicking her heels up to make the water splash around her ankles.

Michelle handed the girl her towel, which Cho took and squeezed her hair out with. The wetness from her hair came down and made the sand browny-tan. She then proceeded to wrap the polyester material around her waist and grab Michelle's wrist.

"Lemonade?" she asked, still slightly pissed at her early exit from the water.

Michelle rolled her eyes as Cho pouted her lips and pointed down the beach to a cooler half filled with icy lemonade. It seemed to be quite popular, as there were only 2 pitchers of the twenty-two original remaining.

Cho stalked over, poured a glass and took a long, gulping sip.

"Mm…" she said, not bothering to conceal her contentment.

"Good?" Michelle asked smugly, reaching for the pitcher. Cho moved aside, face suddenly clear.

"I've had better." She lied and tossed her hair. Michelle took a sip of her second cup and took Cho's empty hand.

"Lets sit." She said, pulling Cho onto her towel. Cho nodded and lay back. There was silence as she sighed deeply.

"Where's Mello?" she asked, yawning. Michelle's heart skipped a beat.

"I…"

Cho opened a crimson-purpley eye. "Yeah?"

"I…don't know." Usually Mello was loud and easy to spot, but neither girl had seen him since around one. Michelle checked her watch. It was three.

Cho frowned and shrugged. "Maybe he's up in the room resting." She said simply.

Michelle shook her head, a worry line appearing briefly. "When I went up to get my suit on, he wasn't there."

"Eating?"

"Nah. He only eats at meals and whenever he can get his hands on chocolate. There's none here."

"Reading?"

"You talking about Mello?"

"Hiking?" There was a brief pause and Michelle stood up. "Cho." She said abruptly, taking a little breath.

"Nn?" Cho had her eyes closed again.

"Didn't you dare him to climb that rock?" Michelle's voice shook ever so slightly.

Cho opened her eyes and stood up, eye to nose with Michelle. "Ohmyfreakingod. He would never."

Michelle nodded. "He might."

Cho's eyes were alight with fire. "Idiot." She rapidly fingercombed her hair and turned.

"Well. He'll probably be back in about 5 or 10. After he falls and gets a little scrape."

Michelle's azure irises brimmed with doubt. She waited. "It's been 3 hours since we last saw him." She said hesitantly.

Cho shrugged. "He doesn't have to be in our sight every second. He's probably only been gone half an hour or so." With that she walked off, leaving Michelle to follow her. Michelle sighed and bit her lip, looking up at the looming hill of thick forest where her own flesh and blood might be in peril as she thought.

He couldn't be _that _in trouble, could he? Nah. Not Mello.

Michelle nervously checked her watch. It was 6:30 and there were still no signs of Mello anywhere. As she nervously nibbled at a hot dog for dinner, she began to worry. He was missing dinner. Mello never misses a meal. Unless he found chocolate. But that was doubtful. What kind of freak finds random chocolate on a desert island?

Michelle put down her hot dog and pushed it around with her finger. The weiner fell out of the bun and rolled across her plate, softly thumping against her potato chips. Cho looked up from her own hot dog and looked a little unsure.

"Michelle…he's still not back, is he?" she asked knowingly, setting down her plastic fork.

Michelle shook her head slowly. One. Two. Three. Four…

"C'mon, he's _fine."_

Michelle's head continued saying no. Cho sighed deeply and took a breath, not letting it out.

She stood rapidly. The food on her lap clattered to the floor in slow motion, ketchup spattering on Michelle's legs.

"That's it. Bye Michelle, I'll be back." Her words were sharp edged and full of confidence.

Michelle couldn't find the power to say anything. It was pretty obvious that Cho was going to find Mello, but for once Michelle was totally blank. Her eyes reached an impossible degree of being wide open. Cho shook her head and turned, beginning to run down the path out of the hotel and onto the sand, long black hair trailing after her into the sunset.

"CHO! STOP! WAIT!" As the blonde girl stood, suddenly in a panic she realized no sooner than the words left her mouth that it was too late. She muttered a rare curse and stared at the ground, brow furrowed.

Someone touched her shoulder, tentative fingers curling around her neck. It was Near, hidden in a white sweater and gloves.

"What now, Michelle?" he asked in his slow, girlish voice. Michelle's heart began pounding as the words sunk in.

She pointed viciously into the slowly disappearing sun.

"We follow." The girl grabbed Near's wrist, taking him by surprise and ran, following after her best friend and brother…where ever they were.


	12. AKeboshi

**This chapter felt like it took forever. Really it only took 2 days, but I restarted it about 3 or 4 times. Twice at my Mom's and a couple more at my Dads. Finally…after grueling along and trying to get in the mood. I came up with this:**

**Disclaimer:**

**(You know what that is. If I owned Death Note, Cho would be in it.)**

**FYI, she's not. **

**Enjoy!**

12

Running was starting to get testy, Cho thought as she roared down the beach, kicking sand into the remaining lemonade.

And why was she even doing this any-hoo? Mello, that idiot had gotten lost himself and it should be his job to save his own sorry ass. Who was he to her but a gangly, squinty, blue eyed, scraggle-headed jerk? Cho let a little breath, which only succeeded in making her more tired than she already was. Another question; why was she so tired all of a sudden? Usually she could run and run and never get tired, but tonight was different. Was it her mind? Was the accursed thing working overtime again while she ran? Whenever something was on her mind that worried her she couldn't run more than a few steps at a time without becoming totally breathless.

But this wasn't worrying her…was it? She was just tired, that's it. And hadn't she run and run some more just this morning? Cho fought to clear her mind, seeing the forest up ahead. Her legs began to pump in time with her heart and veins and capillaries and arteries, everything else inside of her was all going at the same rate of speed over and over and over again.

Michelle stared up at the air. It was a light purpley mix of cloud and sky.

"Where's Cho?" she asked in a choked voice. It had been almost half an hour since they had last seen the girl and now she was nowhere to be found.

Near raised one pale hand and twisted his fingers into his hair.

"If I may…" he began, as Michelle turned eagerly to look at him.

"Cho is a rather small girl, with lots of physical endurance. She would probably be almost 96 to her

destination by now, judging by her speed (most likely around 3.5 meters/second) and time (29.5 minutes) she would have covered almost the exact distance to the rock around now." Michelle's mouth dropped open oh-so-slightly as she stared at the white-haired boy.

He shrugged. "Basic Physics."

Michelle turned away, shrugging back at him.

"Then we need to get to that rock as fast as we can." Her azure gaze was fixed on the trees a couple yards away. Near stepped up beside her, never missing a beat.

"…and judging by her emotional strength she probably isn't at the rock yet since she is probably lost."

Michelle slammed her head into her hand.

Cho slammed one foot into the dry mud of the forest. A light dust settled on her toes, in contrast with her cream skin. She turned her head up towards the barely visible light purple sky.

"CHAAAAAAAAAGGGHHHH!" she shouted in exasperation. "I'm so totally lost!"

Through a haze of fresh misery, Cho could see Mello's smirk at her poor sense of direction…his grandiloquent speech on how she was only rough number three at Wammy's, to his number two.

The ravenhead sunk down onto her knees, letting the ends on her hair sink into the dust and grime of the forestfloor.

The truth was, she wanted to hear that speech right around now, see that smirk and hear him rant on about Near or himself or lack of chocolate or just about anything really. Just to know he was okay. Just to know he was still there. But would he be? What if as she knelt, immobile on the ground he lay at the same height, dead. A couple tears rimmed her eyes, smattering red across her nose and cheeks. Cho wiped them off, gritting her teeth at the angry sob she could feel in her throat, right next to the tears.

"MELLO! YOU IDIOT!" she shouted, hearing the birds above her in the trees scatter.

"I HATE YOU!" the screams did nothing but make the sky darker and darker, stretching onwards into the oncoming dark.

Cho rose and clenched her fists, gritted her teeth, and swallowed the screams inside all at the same time, bringing a soft burst of pain into her chest.

She ran.

And ran.

It kept on getting darker, but she didn't care and her blackberry hair whipped the trees and branches and brambles she passed as she thundered onwards towards her goal…

A rebellious, shrimpy, scowling blonde named Mello.

* * *

"It's getting darker." Near took the time to pause and make one of his famously obnoxious observations.

Michelle eyed the sky. "Good one, Near." She continued on.

"The sarcasm was uncalled for." He answered, hurrying to catch up.

_A rebellious, shrimpy, scowing blonde named Mello. _

Was she really anything more minus the scowl and the blonde hair? Her red-purple eyes seemed to glow as it got darker and darker in the forest, thick, leafy trees only adding to the dull saturation from the dusky sky.

Cho was running now, her head bent and her arms pumping at her sides like small missles.

She remembered earlier that day, about the forecast for rain that night. Icy, cold, sideways-tree-blowing rain the locals had said. Thank God Cho had changed back into her clothes. A bathing suit would be horrible right now. But would she have done anything differently if only in a bathing suit?

It was getting cooler and darker on this night when the clouds covered the moon almost completely. Last night, and all the nights before, it had been a giant moon that cast light over almost everything. Cho and Mello had snuck out around midnight to go for a late night swim and the moon had lit their way flawlessly. Now, Cho was blind to anything over 5 feet away. She kept waiting to run straight into a bear or tiger or bush or some kind of spiky, sharp monster.

Her heart began pounding even harder from fear now. She couldn't see or hear or even feel anything but an empty black darkness that turned her in its hands like clay. Not knowing what she would encounter or touch or fall into in the next itsy-small moments gripped her with a freakishly real fear that made her joints freeze.

Before Cho knew it, there was a path up ahead, one she recognized well. Her stomach lurched as she accelerated, feeling the sweet taste of victory---and anxiety. What she would find now could change her forever. She could find a corpse or a paralyzed body or…at the worst…nothing at all. Cho would have to spend the rest of her life not knowing what happened to that little blonde boy she once knew. It made her want to barf.

She did. A mystery force led the sticky-sweet-sour vomit up her throat and from her lips onto the hungry black ground. It splattered down and mixed with the dirt, marked by a loud splash when it hit.

"Damn…it…" she muttered, wiping her mouth. Cho felt nervous now, like there was nothing inside her holding her down, she was weightless and defiant of gravity. She felt nothing. So she ran. Ran up the black path, squishy from barf and dirt in the rain that now tentatively surrounded her.

_Shlip, splap, slapa. _Her feet went.

_Pika. Pit. Pat. _Went the icy rain.

Then she was there, the rock. It was bigger at night, blocking out everything and nothing at the same time. Cho stood and stared upwards into the unseeing night, feet planted and arms shaking.

"MELLO!!!!!!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.

Her voice went unheard in the pitch black rain.

Near drew his hood closer around his pale face, the only colors of the darkness.

Michelle, still clad in a bathing suit wiped her hair, damp with sweat, rain, and frustrated tears back from her face.

"CHO! MELLO!!!" she shouted, resting an arm on the tree trunk. "CHO!"

Near sighed hugely and grabbed her shoulder.

"Michelle, they can't hear you. The rain is loud and we are almost at the rock now." His calm demeanor only made Michelle more frustrated.

"How much longer!?? You've been saying that for the past hour!!!" she turned on him, looking to disturb and anger.

Near shook unpleasantly damp hair and sighed, unperturbed.

"It's been a mere 15 minutes since you asked the first time. We've been out here for almost 2 hours. It will be probably another 20 until we arrive at Akeboshi Rock."

"A-ke-bosh-i?" Michelle asked, hurrying up the path, Near keeping beside her. "That's what it's called?"

Near nodded and motioned onwards in silence.

With a shuddering sigh, Cho began to climb the rock. One shaky hand reached out towards a thick hand hold as another fumbled for another one. Her feet began to ascend and before she could breathe, she was heading slowly up the wet rocky side.

She looked up and gasped as the icy rain stung her eyes, pushing her backwards, fumbling fumbling, she pulled her wet, cold torso in up against the mountainside…and climbed. Up…up…up…each foothold seemed to be less and less trustworthy. Her flimsy, once sturdy shoes bent and broke, leaving her bleeding feet to stain the gray rock red.

Cho's cheeks began to cover with tears and she sobbed, small shuddery, sweet sobs that sent her into convulsions.

"No, no, no…."

The rain began to hit harder and harder, soaking her to the bone as she made her way up. She lost track of all time and direction, only moving and moving and shaking and falling and bleeding and soaking and not breathing. Cho wanted to fall. She wanted to hit the ground and not worry anymore, as she went higher and higher. Was there another path? Where was she know?

Why was this stupidstupidstupid little girl doing this?

And then she reached something smooth and cold and grassy. Barely brushing it with her fingertips, she knew it was the top. Her whole body was convulsing and freezing, ready to give up at any moment.

"Me….llo." she croaked, her throat feeling like it was on fire, her feet bleeding and bleeding and bleeding.

"Me…llo." It was a question, a scream that was hidden deep within the folds of her heart.

"Me…llo." It was no good, no one would ever hear it, this was the end.

She fell.

The air surrounded her, and blew her hair out around her in silky strands. She looked like a dying…one could say angel, but she just looked like a little girl, falling and falling for what was according to Near's calculations would have been 1.246009 seconds.

Then she hit. No, not the ground, the boy. He had his arms out and she was in them, saved from a gruesome death on the rocky, vomity, bloody, black ground.

Mello, hair shoved down into his eyes that were terrified and miserable, barely able to lift the tiny Cho, dragged her back, back into the grassy mounds of rock where he had taken refuge from the brewing storm.

Somewhere, Near and Michelle found an alternate path that would lead them up…to where? And Mello held the sobbing Cho tightly in his arms, and let his own rare tears wet his cheeks and hers as he held her close….closer than she would have liked him to.

And the storm raged on, but they were alive.

Would they be?


	13. Water

13

"M-Mello!" Cho's eyes opened wide, still glittering with tears.

Mello hurriedly wiped his eyes and looked at her anxiously.

"Cho! Why'd you come looking for me!? You're so stupid! If I hadn't thought I saw someone you would be _dead _right now!! Understand?" he said, shaking her.

"Ow…ow!" she mumbled as her feet hit the ground with his forced movement. Mello glanced down and saw the blood. "Ack! Cho, what's that?" he asked, shaking her again.

"OW! That's-OW! Stop it, will ya?" Cho was cut off as Mello continued shaking her. He stopped. A "will ya" was as close to a please as you could get with her. It must really hurt.

"Sorry." They sat in silence for a rare moment. Really, there was no needed explanation for the feet. It hurt to stand for Cho, so Mello stood, pulling two leafy green hosta leaves from a nearby bush. Up on the mountain, it was actually quite vegetated. There were trees a little behind where Mello and Cho knelt, under a large patch of bushes. Almost as if he did this every day, Mello hurried over to a small puddle, hosta leaves in hand. Filling each with a handful of water, he hurried back and wrapped Cho's feet carefully in the big droppy leaves.

"Thank you…" Cho murmured, her luminous eyes downcast.

"'S okay. Don't expect it again."

Then they lay…just lay. Cho's head on Mello's inner elbow and him lying back against a rock. The rain began to gradually take on a slow pattern and the bushes shielded them from anything else. They were curled up together, merely for warmth, and still freezing, teeth chattering. Cho's camisol was soaked through, along with her shorts and right now it was cool enough for a jacket. Mello was simply clad in a sleeveless shirt and capris that were now wet from Cho.

How long could they stay out here? Neither had any knowledge of Michelle or Near, or where anyone was, or the time, though the clouds had drifted over a bit, letting the rain pour down alone from the glowing stars.

Cho suspected it was well past eleven after a while, with no one there at all. They could survive until winter maybe, possibly until the snow began to fall. As far as Cho knew, there were no exits from the mountain, let alone any paths down….right?

No one could possibly evernever find the two, lying there with their star-streaked eyes and ripped apparel. The two that lay there for what was and felt like a long long time. No one really knows how long they were there, drifted in and out and out and in of consciousness until Mello finally awoke and looked down at Cho.

_ "I'll give you a….kiss." _she had said sarcastically. He was so tempted now, though she would never know…but how did he really feel about her?

The rain had slowed down, and Cho's feet had stopped bleeding. With a sudden urge to stand, Mello straightened out his legs and lifted Cho into them, her hair almost reaching his ankles in the moonlit black. He remembered the swimming at midnight. She had laughed and dunked him and gone underwater for a long time, longer than Mello himself wanted to, that late at night. She had come up with a fish, a tiny yellow one he'd wanted to cut open and fry. Cho had looked at him then, looked at him and looked at him and looked at him like he was stupidstupid and then dumped the little yellow fish into the black water, letting him swim away towards safety. She'd never looked at him like that before, or acted like that, but Mello now knew something that no one else did, maybe not even Michelle. Cho was afraid. Afraid, scared, whatever you really wanted to call it. But she had it. It wasn't an afraid/scared for herself, but instead an afraid/scared for someone else. Someone else dying.

_So she did have a soft side. _

But did he? In a way, Mello hated himself, really did. He hated how he was only number two in almost everything, but still existed. He wasn't worth it-was he?

Was he? He tried and tried to find his soft side---he was desperate, but there was nothing, nothing. But when he was with Cho. Cho or Michelle. He may have hidden it well, but he didn't want them to be hurt. He would rather move down to number two and a half, or be bossed around by Near for a full month than have either one of them die. But was that a soft spot? He couldn't exactly ask, because come to admit it, Jeb wouldn't understand and he couldn't exactly break down and ask Cho, could he?

Mello sat down to find the opposite edge of the giant rock was no more than a couple feet away. Laying Cho on the sparse grass, he leaned down to find the ocean. Just the ocean. It was no more than 10 or 20 feet down, but looked so big and deep and stretched on forever. It would be dangerous to go all the way down there. The waves were still wild, no matter what anyone said, and even the strongest surfer would die down in that deepdeep wet ocean.

Turning back around, he saw Cho, still asleep and though about the bet.

_"I'll give you a…kiss."_

It couldn't hurt,…could it? Nah. He leaned down over her.

No! He couldn't do this! NO!!!

His breath began to come fast and hard. His heart was beating at the speed of light.

"Kiss me." Said her cherubic, red lips.

No! No, Mello! It was like Alice and Wonderland. The little eat me/drink me cards that made Alice grow and shrink. Both so tempting, but both like the potions of evil. This was most certainly "temptation" like in the Bible, and Cho must have a demon inside.

"What!?" He said the word aloud to himself. This was stupid. Cho? A demon? That was going too far…she had never sinned one of the seven or killed or anything, right? RIGHT? He leaned down again, just a quick one. He'd pray afterwards, up to the Virgin Mary and the Lord Almighty. Mello paused. But was it worth it? He was probably already going to hell anyway, what with his hard heart and bullying and everything.

Stop thinking Mello. Just do it. So he leaned forward….and forward, up until her face was centimeters away, millimeters. In seconds her lips would be on his and perhaps she would awake and kiss…him…back…

He was thinking too much. Mello's head began to automatically clear, closing of all outside thoughts.

Kiss, kiss, kiss, Cho…

She would be his in seconds, in his arms he would hold a girl, a real one he could kiss and hug and feel how she would be so soft and warm and wet.

And then, his lips about to meet Cho's…

"MELLO! CHO! OH MY GOD!!!"Michelle's wet, sweaty, dirty, bruised arms were around both of them, her tears running into Mello's shoulder.

"God! I thought you were _dead!_ My GOD!" Sobbing uncontrollably, Michelle smothered Mello in her arms, planting a kiss on his cheek, much sloppier than the one he was about to give Cho…or had been about to.

If Michelle had been one minute later. _ONE MINUTE! _ Wait? Why did Mello care?

He looked up, to his embarrasment to find Near standing there, looking rather miserable in the wet dark. He politely nodded at Mello and Cho, who was barely awakening.

Michelle stood, back to the cliff.

"I'm so glad we found you!"

Cho smiled, tired, unaware she was almost completely in Mello's lap.

"Me too. I don't want to…die…yet…"she stretched and yawned like a cat.

"Good! Cause we won't let you!" Michelle was in a complete and utter heaven, what with her brother and best friend redeemed.

"We won't let you guys die either!" Cho said, pointing at Michelle and then Near. Mello sweatdropped, annoyed at the fluff.

"Aaa…why are girls so fluffy?" He confided to no one in particular.

Cho, at that moment woke up.

"Ahg! I'm in your lap! Ew! Get me off!" she screamed and jumped. Mello threw up his hands, eyes wide.

"Sorrysorrysorry." He muttered rolling his eyes.

Michelle laughed and took a step backwards. Mello observed her quietly.

"Be careful of the cliff." He said. Near nodded, though unseen. He just wanted to go back to the hotel.

"Huh?" Michelle asked, smiling, deliriously happy.

"Be careful of the _**CLIFF**_, Michelle."

But instead, Michelle shrugged.

"Huh? The cliff's way over-!" but just then, Michelle shifted all of her weight onto her back foot and something crumbled.

Once again everything went slower….and slower…and Michelle toppled, back, back over. And her scream echoed through the air…right before she disappeared totally.

"MICHELLE!" shouted Mello, his eyes wide as he scrambled to grab the empty as ever air where she had been.

"No! Oh, GOD!" Cho buried her pounding head in her arms and let the tears pour from her eyes.

"She's dead!"

"No way! It can't happen that fast! No! She's aquaphobic!"

Near's heart practically stopped, and for once in his life he felt something. Something deep and hard that hit him like a bullet but it hurt more.

_Michelle!_

An always unheard conscience screamed and before he knew it he was running, as rare and impossible as that sounded. He ran, pushing Mello and Cho aside, back. And then he dove. Near had barely learned to swim. It had been on a sunny day back when he was nine, and L had forced him into the water, teaching him the grueling process until he had it by heart.

Now here, he was, in what was an almost perfect dive towards the #1 hell water could produce…and Michelle. Her eyes, terrified flickered in his head as he drew closer and closer to the water. Could he really do this?

The answer stirred up as he hit the water with intense force.

"Yes." He mouthed, bubbles spewing from his mouth. "Yes I can." The salt water stung the back of his throat like a knife and he began to dive straight through the water towards an unknown destination.

Really it was almost impossible and incredibly improbable that he would be able to find her. The whole ocean was here and he needed magic or a miracle or something that would get him through this. But Near didn't believe in magic, or miracles or anything mythical really. He just knew he was probably going to die now for some girl he went to school with that wasn't even half as good as he was.

The whole ocean was here. Michelle took up probably about 7 square feet of it. But he still needed to find her. For some reason, he actually cared about this. He was icy and crude and shouldn't care, but as every single part of his body was burning and striving for a way out, he did now.

Michelle! Michelle! Where was she? The dark water swired and closed in around Near. NO! He couldn't go out this easily! He let the water come back into focus and then out again, he was swimming sideways, on his stomach, his back. And right as all hope seemed to blast out in one fast burst, she was there, right in his arms, streaming bubbles.

Her buried his wet face in her shoulder underwater and clutched tightly enough that his grip almost caught loose. His lips brushed against her cheek, her shoulder, the top of her collarbones…

Icy water, icy rain, it was all the same. He swam for shore.


	14. Snow

**Yay! I made it just in time for Eternal-Explosionist's birthday...so it's Michelle's birthday too! ;)**

**HAPPY BIRTHDAY!**

14 

"Where did the rest of the trip go?" Cho asked herself silently, holding her extra-stuffed bag extra-tight, as if to prevent anything jumping out.

The night the four had arrived back, it had turned out was the one night someone actually needed one of the occupants of room 13. Any other night, they would have walked back into their rooms silently, as if nothing were wrong other than their cuts and scratches and tears and blood that would have left a trail Near and Cho would have covered early that morning, when Cho and Mello and Michelle had noticed the tell-tale trails. (Near would have known immediately but be too lazy to do it, as well as know no one would have ever thought he'd of participated.)

But OF COURSE, it didn't turn out that way. The case was, Linda, a rather preppy girl at the orphanage (who actually had a strange taste for Near, making her Michelle's incomparable rival) wanted Near for a mind game she was playing with seashells. When she and several others went into the deserted room 13, they found exactly what I just mentioned: "it was deserted." Any other time of day, Linda and her posse would have skipped down to the beach in a casual search, but right now, it was nine-thirty at night and the beach was empty---especially of Near, who was not an outdoorsy kind of person. 

So, Linda, blonde pigtails wagging ran to Roger who called up the 17 year olds who called up the 16 year olds who get bullied into doing everything for the former, who called up the 15 year olds (who do likewise), who all ran down to the beach together in an excited frenzy. 

The four characters that had been missing headed down the beach towards the searchers, all tangled up in a clump. Michelle was leaning on Near, since he was too tired to carry her and she was still exhausted, and Mello, who had sprained his ankle running for the shore to retrieve Michelle, was on Cho's back. 

"Ow! Dang Mello, you're heavy!" she moaned for about the fifteenth time. 

Mello leaned forward, causing Cho to practically fall flat on her face.

"Oh, c'mon Cho and_you're _the one that's always whining about how strong you are. You can carry eighty pounds, can't you?" Mello responded for the fifteenth time. 

Cho gave a miserable glare to the blonde boy.

"No…I…can't." she muttered through heavily gritted teeth. 

"_Whew! _ Someone get a tape recorder!" Mello shouted in Cho's ear. 

"YAH! Idiot!" Cho, using all her might threw Mello off her back where he landed hard on his butt on the sandy beach. 

"Cho! My foot! Ouch!" he whined rubbing his foot, which was lifted in the air.

"Oh please! Your foot didn't even touch the ground. Now, be quiet…" that was Michelle, speaking in barely a murmur as she clung to Near's side.

Just then, the four arrived at where else but the search group's side. Eighty people literally rushed them all at once, leaving the four twice as bruised as they had been before. The rest of the night was a blur in which Near, Mello, Cho and Michelle were stripped of almost every privilege they had for about half an hour, before Near explained the situation back in his normal monotone, making it only that Mello was stripped of all privileges since the other three had gone to find him, not knowing at all where he was. (At this Cho had to hold back a smirk) 

After that, they had gone to bed and slept all day, and when awake, received by various fans of how they had "gone heroically to save Mello" from certain doom. Basically, the story had basically expanded and expanded until Mello and Cho had been surrounded by cannibals, having fought a bloody battle close to death!

And they had played. They had played and laughed and run and worn oversized sweatshirts to the midnight bonfire last night (even Mello was allowed to attend)

And they had eaten tempura that made Cho and Michelle gag. 

"_Will all passengers please board flight I-7943 to London!" _There was a demanding ring in the canny voice as Cho and Michelle glumly boarded the plane. 

It was raining outside, but not a gray cold rain…a sunny rain that made raindrops sparkle and flicker and sigh in a rainbow haze. 

Their seats were side by side near the back of the plane. Cho stole the window seat while Michelle slid in next to her, not complaining. Cho lay her black head on Michelle's shoulder. 

"Goodbye summer." She murmured a humorless laugh in her voice. "Back to London now…I guess…" Michelle nodded, making Cho's head spin. 

The plane roared to a start and began to move, its mechanical legs whirring and zipping faster and fasterandfaster. And then the little orange cones blurred in front of the windows, looking like little people waving and jumping like frogs. The runway curved up, everyone's head fell back with a small grunt. 

And then they were flying. The sun and rain seemed to suddenly disappear and give the plane a wide berth, wider than any space any thing in the world could fill. 

And they flew away from Yaeyama and into the dark coldness of London.

After the children had come back to the orphanage, actually quite a bit later…almost a month, something happened. Actually two or three things happened but we can't get ahead of ourselves just yet. First of all, the first thing happened on a Monday morning. Not really many things happened on Monday morning, there was breakfast, and then class and then the morning was over, but when Michelle awoke this morning, she felt special. 

For one it was her birthday. Not much really happened on a birthday at Wammy's, and that was why it wasn't one of the things. The thing was that everyone was gathered at the window. Everyone was pointing and giggling and Michelle thought she could see Cho bustling around and going crazy with joy. Michelle leapt up, not bothering to check her hair in the mirror, or pull on a sweater over her nightgown. (It was getting colder) 

As she pushed her way up front, she saw something WAS indeed happening. Little white particles were falling from the sky, drifting down to Earth and landing on the ground. The stuff was wet and white. Michelle felt a smile cracking across her face and she let out a giggle. 

Maybe today would be really great…

The second thing that happened was Math class. The teacher was sick, and not like a little cold. She was sick with the flu, and no one seemed to be arriving to help the class. They had been carelessly given a page in their books (multiplying and dividing mixed fractions) to do and had been ditched. By now, the snow was falling thick and fast and_stuck! _ Cho was still squealing and giggling and in no worse mood than she had been in that morning. It was quite odd to see the girl so friendly and happy and smiling like no other. It was almost scary. 

Cho grabbed Michelle's hand, pulling her up. A giant smile pulled her face wide. 

"Miiiii---chhellllle!" she sang, not bothering to whisper. "I have a biiiirtthday present!" Michelle's eyes, though confused, sparkled in anticipation. 

"What?" she asked, laughing as Cho pulled her over to the window. "Yes, I _know _its snowing silly!" 

But Cho pulled open the window….and jumped! Pulling Michelle with her, it was only 4 or 5 feet to the ground, but they met with a hard solid THWUMP! 

The whole class dashed to the window to see the girls in the schoolyard, covered in crystalline snow. Cho laughed at Michelle's shocked face and shoved her in the snow. Michelle laughed and shoved her back. Cho jumped down on her back, ignoring the ice rubbing her back, and made a sloppy snow angel, then flipped over, destroying it. 

Snow fell like water in a shower as they lay and laughed and waved at the class and laughed some more. Most looked at the girls, ignoring each other and making silly faces, too scared to follow outside. Some began a loud version of "Happy Birthday" for Michelle. But no one noticed Mello. He wasn't smiling or making funny faces or singing. He was staring at one of the girls in the schoolyard. And he didn't look happy. 

"Cho? Can I talk to you?" Mello's voice made Cho jump and spin, her crimson-violet eyes, surprised. A slight frown worried her brow. 

"Yeah, what?" she asked, the good mood cracking a bit at this unexpected event. 

Mello glanced at Michelle and Anna Sofia, Anna Sofia's friends and the seven others at the table, all staring at him.

"Alone?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow. Cho sighed exaggeratedly and gave her friends a "whatever" look. 

"Fine. You won me over Mello." She said sarcastically to the floor. She stretched. He kicked at the remnants of a PB&J sandwich on the floor. She stood slowly, shaking out her hair. He looked at her. She looked away. 

They walked out together, standing alone in the empty hall that felt like it went on for miles. They walked down the hall, their heels clacking loudly, like when Cho had just arrived.

"Cho…"began Mello, rubbing his hair, making it stand up in the back. 

"Mello…" Cho imitated him and laughed, catching rays of light in her hair. Mello stared at her, half annoyed. 

"_What?" _she laughed and pulled a face, the good mood back now that they were alone. 

"Cho…I…just…" he stopped, and when he saw Cho keep on going jogged to keep up. 

"Cho….I…just…really…" she looked at him, annoyed. 

"What, Mello? Spit it out for God's sake!"

Something about that way she said it, the way her lips tweaked and turned, and her forehead expressed her utter annoyance and her eyes flashed, made Mello snap. He turned towards her, he clenched his fists. A broken yell came from his throat and he gritted his teeth. His hands grabbed her wrists and pressed her against the cold stone wall. 

"Mello! What the---? WHAT do you think you're DOING!" she shook her head, facing him, a mere 8 inches away.

"Cho…I just really…"

his head moved forward and she could feel his heart pumping through his fingers that were digging into her wrists. Her eyes widened and his hair brushed her cheek.

"…really love you."

And then his lips pressed against her frozen closed ones and he let go of her wrists, and his heart regulated at a fast beat and she could taste snow and anger and pent up feelings and….love on his lips.

And then they were kissing. 


	15. GoodBye

**Wow! I've been updating like CRAZZZYYYYYY! This chapter is uber-short, but I guess it just seemed better that way...**

15

Cho's eyes flew wide open. Her heart was pounding at an incredible rate and her hands were shaking as Mello held them.

"_Mello…__**likes**__ me?" _

Her eyes shut, too mentally shocked to pull away. It must have been so obvious, hadn't it? But to her, why did she have to be so damn oblivious? Mello, Mello, Mello….that fool! She'd never even THOUGHT about kissing him. The only reason she'd been mad when they had to sleep in the same bed was that she had to be so close to him and she was worried he snored. (he didn't.) 

Part of her agreed that she wasn't really ready for this while her other half wondered what it would be like to keep on….going. 

Suddenly, her sunset eyes flared open. 

"_**NO!" **_The shout came out of her mouth and into Mello's, sending Cho flying away and hitting her head on the wall and squeezing her wide eyes shut. Her hands flew to her mouth and she could feel tears fighting to get out. Why did she always have to want to CRY! NONONONONO! She wouldn't. Her eyes opened again and she breathed in through her nose, lips clenched. 

Mello stood in front of her, looking more injured and miserable than she'd ever seen anyone look. His eyes were full of hurt. Hers were, she knew angry and indignant, practically on fire. She felt kind of bad for a fraction of a second, but then that went away too and all she had was anger. 

"MELLO!" she shouted, squeezing her eyes to keep from crying. Her fist connected with the bridge of his nose and she ran. Her hair flying behind her back, she turned, shoulders shaking and ran. 

On the way up she collided head-on with L. He saw her tears and frowned calmly. 

"Miss Cho. What is wrong?" his kindness only infuriated her. She felt herself push him away and run, her toes tripping and falling and her hair falling in her eyes and her body moving onwards so fast she couldn't feel. L's black eyes portrayed nothing, even though he had already guessed what had happened as he saw Mello at the bottom of the stairs bleeding ferociously and sobbing with angry and saddened and pained tears. 

Cho burst into her room that she now shared with Michelle and two other girls whom were all absent. Her tears she were glad no one could see but she felt like screaming, like hitting someone or something or anything. Her fist slammed into the wall. Mello hadn't been enough. Again her fist hit the thin plaster that cracked and crumbled into a powder. Her knuckles looked purple so she used her head, pushing her forehead into the wall and gritting her teeth and screaming. Blood ran into her eyelashes, blurring her vision with more tears. It hurt, but it felt so good. Mello, why! She couldn't stay here she had to go, to leave. 

She didn't notice Near watching her from across the way, his eyes concerned and betraying the slightest bit of nervousness. She didn't notice Michelle standing at the door and peering in halfway, her eyes wide and trembling. 

Cho just threw it into a suitcase, all of it. Every single piece of fabric she had went into the bag and the bag went into her bathroom and then all of her things from there were gone too and tears were empty. She couldn't stay. She had to go. 

Her fists clenched tightly enough that the knuckles bled, she slammed the door open, shoving Michelle aside. The blonde landed on the floor and slid, cheeks chock full of tears. 

"Cho! What happened! WAIT!" she screamed, but Cho ran, and her feet pounded, and her hair flew about. And she was gone. 

Gone without a good-bye. On Michelle's 13th birthday. At 1:29 p.m. 

Cho left Wammy's House for the last time.

**Whenever I next update there will be a new arc going on...and sadly its the L arc and fillers in between it, which might be kind of dull (for me). SOOOOO I'll try to get to the Near and Mello arc soon, but ah well...we'll see how it goes!**

**See ya next! **


	16. Can't Forget

**I'm sorry for the dull chapter content...but I couldn't just hop right in...**

**Enjoy...maybe.  
**

16

It had been a while and as the darkness poured into the window like ink, Cho slipped outside with her mug of coffee. At a mere almost-fourteen, she was not much changed in appearance, other than the appearance of make-up that often occurs in young girls, and of course a little growth in size.

_She may not look different, but she is. _

The words that she imagined sliding around her if she met him, or them, or any of them really from that orphanage. She pressed her hand to her dark painted lips and coughed to conceal her sadness.

How is she different?

At first she had lived on the streets, sitting and sleeping and eating on rooftops and sometimes watching Wammy's House on their walks; watching how Mello's wardrobe was inky black as the darkness Cho stood in now and how Michelle stood so close to Near…and the new boy. His red-brown head was always bent down and he seemed a little older than Cho, about her brother's age. No longer a member of Wammy's, Cho didn't particularly care about him, nor did she want to.

Then she needed money. Her usual easy steals were well-guarded and no one seemed to vend anymore. Cho didn't know why. So she stole a piano. It was the biggest thing she ever had done and the most dangerous as she dragged it away in the dead of night and into the alley. Her fingers had turned a bright red and white and were chapped from the wood pulling and yanking and shoving into her makeshift home in the hollow of an abandoned building. There Cho began to play. Slowly at first, and then more and more; she hungered for music like a dying child for life. She stole music books and pieces and scraps of paper with notes on them. She even stayed in the bookstore and memorized the little black dots, putting them onto an imaginary piano as she sat cross-legged with the book in front of her in the music aisle. Then she put them onto a real piano and played them as good as she could, singing along to the ones with music.

Her voice was odd. It was lilting and moved up and down on the long scale easily, making her able to go incredibly low and then high enough so that the human ear hurt. She didn't do that last one very much; it even hurt her own ears. In short, Cho had quite an acceptable voice, making up for her bad handwriting and temper. Eventually, she dragged (painful act) he piano back into the street, and began to play and sing and play and sing, though staying far enough from Wammy's. People came, and sometimes stayed to watch her voice and fingers climb and fall the scales like a yo-yo. They liked it. Money came a little more easily now, and she spent it badly on cheap things she didn't really need, just like only Cho would do. At least she had cherry chocolate (not that she had any other food or anything)

Finally, one night, a man found her. He was tall and smoked an ugly cigar and had big ugly hands. He listened to Cho for a while, writing things down with a fountain pen, but never paying a cent. Then his hand was on Cho's shoulders and the next thing she knew, she was curled up in a big armchair with a literal tub of hot chocolate and the fountain pen. She was signing a contract. A talent contract.

_Cho_

She wrote. The man looked. He told her lone first names were too popular these days, pick something new.

_Cho Noir _

She wrote in fancy font and then looked up through her too long bangs. The man told her she was going to get a make-over, since she was dirty and make-up-less. Cho smiled.

The next day, her hair was professionally made pin straight (and trimmed since then it was down to her calves) and her bangs trimmed just below her eyebrows and layered. Black eyeliner was applied, along with some mascara, and cherry red lipstick. She was then given the make-up and told to wear it every day, (but wash it off at night) along with some clothes the man (name: Geoff) gave her and called gothic-Lolita. Cho thought she looked like a black princess. She liked it.

Soon after, the girl was sent along to live with her older blonde roommate, who actually looked like a little girl. Cho liked her and her pigtails and high voice that matched Cho. The blonde-little-pigtail girl was a model and gave Cho some jobs with her, that got a lot of attention.

Cho began getting all kinds of fan mail that her agent went a little pale after reading. (He then blushed and wouldn't show Cho) Then she sang. People liked that too.

Cho Noir, the black butterfly was taking the world by storm.

Then, her blonde room-mate moved out. She gave Cho a big hug and cried, talking about how her agent said Cho was getting all the "good roles" and they were going to go focus on Japan. Cho said good-bye and then she had an apartment all to herself.

And that was the year that Kira came. Kira spread faster than one of Cho's rock albums (by far, don't be self-centered Cho) and criminals were dropping dead left and right. Cho was scared and wanted to stop Kira in all his ridiculous-ness and the thoughts that he was God. One day, Cho turned on the news to see her own face across the screen beside one of her agent. A voiceover explained the agent was dead; he had been sexually harassing young girls, including Cho's roommate. He had even stalked her. So her room-mate had gone to Japan to flee, not to become more popular, even though she had Cho felt her heart go pitter-pat and her eyes flutter and then burn out.

She was out cold for most of the day. Kira had struck, and so close as well. He could have killed her any day, and who knows next? It was like someone had told Cho that despite what anyone else said: pigs could fly. Something totally shocking had happened. Kira was more powerful than anyone else on Earth. Some said he was God, like the Catholic Mello's God, but Cho was too scared to say he was or wasn't.

The next day, a new agent had been given to her, along with almost 1000 gift boxes and sympathetic cards from fans and friends. Cho almost expected to see something from Wammy's House. From Michelle. From Near even ….from Mello….

Now Cho stood, drinking coffee out above the dark New York street. She had just found out that L was on the Kira case. L of all people! It made Cho want to cry and laugh and yell all the same time. He'd located Kira yesterday afternoon, the papers said. Tomorrow, she'd fly to the location, though disclosed. It was in Japan. Just the word made her think of Yaeyama and Yaeyama made her think of Michelle and Michelle made her think of Mello, whom she now hated. So screw him. She didn't care. Japan consisted of more than Akeboshi Rock and beaches and rain. Or did it? She was so confused and felt absolutely random.

It was getting darker even as she stood still. Mere seconds had passed and she was already clothed in another layer of black.

She turned and disappeared into the house, away from view. Before she closed the door behind her dark colored form, you might have seen her calmly kick aside a couple fan-gifts to get to the doorknob. Then she was gone.

The next morning Cho Noir boarded the plane to Tokyo, receiving hundred's recognition, one hundred six flashing cameras, eight hugs, and approximately one dried out Sharpie for autographs. She received all this, as well as gossip and questions about where she was going.

("Nowhere special.")

Was she for Kira or against?

("Against." Cho replied, pulling down her sunglasses and glaring into the eyes of the reporter.)

The plane ride was longer than usual, so it felt to Cho, and brought back Yaeyama memories. She was sick of it all! Of Yaeyama and Wammy's and everything about those times. She wanted to forget it all.

But she couldn't. It was only going to come back and bite her in the ass.

**I'm sorry also to Eternal Explosionist about her current absence...PM me. **


	17. Email

**I am starting to become so detail-less. CHAAA!! Review please. I love reviews. They are the only thins that keep CHo going. Other than my fingers...**

17

"I would like a permanent room on any floor available please."

The man looked at Cho with a frown on his small square face. Cho looked at him through giant sunglasses. She knew he couldn't recognize her. She smiled sweetly, hoping her she hadn't just asked for a laxative in her almost-fluent-but-very-confused Japanese.

The man didn't. "I don't know if we can do this but…." Here he began rapidly typing on a small PC.

"I insist." Cho leaned forward, looking eagerly over his shoulder.

The man, Mr. Hawakate scrubbed out his ear with a short stubby finger and looked at Cho with a nervous scowl.

"Um, Miss, please move back." Cho ignored him, pretending to not understand.

"So…..is there one open??" she asked with a big grin.

Hawakate-san nodded and smirked. "For 24,951 yen a night."

Cho gulped. She lowered her sunglasses, giving him a dose of her fiery-purple eyes. His eyes widened. She felt a smile play on her lips. But Mr. Hawakate had other plans.

"So you're rich?" he asked, smiling widely. Answer honestly….answer honestly…Cho smiled.

"Not enough for Japan." She said with a small pout. She felt his eyes on her. Could she pull this off? She watched as he looked at her sideways, her innocent pout and large eyes looking through messy bangs.

He smiled toothily. "12,000….for now. You start getting jobs around here and I'm a gonna raise it!" His fist shook, but Cho was already too far away to see, her long hair flying behind her as she dashed for the elevators.

Inside her hotel room, it was dark, and the sounds of a whirring laptop were loud in Cho's head. She settled back on the bed, clad in her girl boxers and cami. It was near eleven o' clock and Cho planned to work until she was at the verge of fainting, which was probably something that would happen in the very near future, due to her exact-opposite-of-insomnia sleep conditions. The girl could fall asleep at the touch of a button, though she rarely had trouble waking she seemed to love sleep. This was both a blessing and a curse. She was able to fall asleep under the harsh conditions of partying neighbors, typhoons, and storms, but she rarely made it through a late night sleepover movie with her room mate.

Cho sighed and talked to herself, wishing she knew in which suitcase the CDs were.

It was so quiet.

"I guess I try to find L now." She said, her eyes flickering around the room, as if he were hiding in the closet or under a bed. It was going to hard, she knew that much, L did NOT leave tracks. Cho just had a head start from personally knowing the man.

"**L, investigator" **she typed slowly, eyelids heavy.

Sites popped up and Cho clicked on the top result. The large L insignia came up on a blank background. At the bottom there were two tiny buttons.

They looked like this:

The Kira Case Contact (indirect screened)

Cho favorited the site and clicked on contact. An email box appeared along with a notice about how this was NOT direct and was probably NOT going to receive recognition or a reply.

Cho rolled her eyes at the obvious and began to type, slowly at first and then faster.

_**L and Watari (if this is you),**_

_**This is Cho. (From Wammy's House, remember??) **__**Keep reading**__**. I would like to find your whereabouts so that we can talk. I would like the opportunity to work on the Kira case with you, if this is possible. If not, I will make it possible and you **__**KNOW**__** me L, so don't doubt it. Please email me back. **_

Cho hesitated and then typed:

_**I have special information regarding Kira. **_

(she didn't)

_**Yours truly, Cho Noir **_

_**P.S If you do NOT email me back I will email you increasingly every day, day after day and when you block my address I will get another and another and then I will STALK you. **_

(She would)

Cho smiled and set down her laptop, falling back to an immediate and black, swirling deep sleep in which she dreamed of a certain blonde girl and a certain orphanage in London. And sometimes of a boy with aqua eyes and a scraggly frame that slouched. But he had no face to Cho and he was no one. But maybe he was. Maybe he was more important to Cho than almost anyone else, but if I confirmed this, it might very well be a straight-out lie.

The sun woke her too early…as it sometimes did when she had her rare late nights, but the familiarity of an early awakening and no complaint overtook her, and she stood anyway, limping on the aching balls of her feet over to the sink and staring at her computer screen (empty email) and then in the mirror. Her hair was tangled in the back. She wondered if she had done something wrong to it. The wrong conditioner or shampoo or moistener.

"Hair sucks." She said aloud, pulling her comb out of her toiletry bags with two toes, a talent she was currently perfecting. The comb was the tortoiseshell one from Wammy's, kind of stolen, but Cho hadn't found any that worked any better.

It ran easily through her hair in the front, chipping at the rat's nests in the back until they came loose and tumbled down and out like rain, forming untangled, though frizzy hair. Cho looked up. Her hair in front was fine, unperturbed by the comb, but the back and sides were frizzy.

"Darn it all." Cho muttered, turning on the shower and stripping slowly.

Her email stayed fruitless for the next week and a half. Cho was getting tired. Tired of sitting and typing and typing until her fingers ached and finding nothing. There had to be a reward for all this toil and torture, didn't there. He had nothing, nothing, nothing and it was killing her. Every ounce of her was dedicated to the searching and Googling with no rest some days, and others she had to get outside for a walk among the cities, or to get a cherry soda at the café downstairs. She was barely eating, though she slept often and was becoming accustomed to the old feeling of an empty stomach again.

It made her think of things she didn't want to, ones she erased with cherry soda and a few pleasure searches online. These were the bad days. The others she simply felt empty and thoughtless except for the typing for Kira. For L. It was like they were erasing her.

Then the email came. It was from Watari.

**Dear Ms. Cho, **

**I do remember you from Wammy's House, and would be interested to know of your unexplained absence if you hadn't showed up on the cover of "Sweet Sixteen" yesterday. Now I am going to say "Aren't you a little young?" **

**But I understand Cho. You need the money, as twisted as that does sound for a thirteen-year old girl. **

**As for your request, I will take note of your location. Pray tell and I will see what we are able to do. L (he has seen the email as well) induced from your P.S you will not take a no for an answer and we might as well let you try. **

**Sincerely,**

**Watari and L **

Cho took no hesitation in a response. Her fingers tightening and weakening as she read, she clicked the reply button in no time flat, not even bothering to read after "sincerely."

**Watari, L, **

**I am in room 518 of the Watakushi To Anata Hotel in Japan. **

**REPLY QUICKLY!! **

**Cho **

The reply characteristically returned after a week of toil and patience.

**Cho, **

**Check next door. The man there may have information.**

**L himself **

Cho felt her heart stop as her mouth opened wide. She jumped up and squealed, a broad smile across her cheeks. Clad in fishnets and a black mini dress shehurried out the door, unknowing of the expectations for meetings.

Her fist firmly rapped on the door. She just hoped her Japanese didn't embarrass her again. (Plane incident, don't ask)

The door swung open a crack. Cho's eyes must have been most of what whoever it was saw, because she crammed her face right up to theirs. The brown eye in the door blinked and the door swung open so fast Cho almost fell.

"NOIR CHO-SAN!!" screamed a young man, though older than Cho. His black hair fluffed in excitement that was apparent on his round face. Before she knew it she was wrapped in a gigantic hug. Cho sweat dropped. She'd never met this guy in her whole life.

"Watashi wa Matsuda desu." He said, bowing and letting Cho down. "I am Matsuda. ONE OF YOUR BIGGEST FANS!!"

Cho gulped as the man swooped in for another hug, but as his shaking hands brushed Cho's arms, a familiar voice came from further into the room.

"Matsuda. You baka. You idiot! Which serial killer have you let in now?" Cho once again was frozen with her heart in her throat. Her feet moved faster than her hands.

She saw him there. His deep, soulful eyes and messy black hair. The half smirk and the bare feet. The way he sat with his knees in front. And the sugar. It WAS him. It was L. Right in front of Cho, barely yards away.

She pressed her hands to her mouth, her knees and then L's own hands. She stared up at him. Her face showing obvious joy.

"L," she began shakily. "Would you like to kiss my brother's chicken butt?"

**If your confused about that last one...remember CHo's confuzzled Japanese?**

**lOl! **

**Hey! Who wants to be in Cho's story? Send me (in a review) a description of yourself, age and name too. It will show up in the story, maybe briefly, maybe for a while. WHo knows who you'll be?? (scary thought LoL)**

**You know you want to! GOGOGO!**


	18. Locked

**This chapter took a longgggg time to write. Didn't it? LoL. **

**I posted a picture I drew of Cho and Michelle on photobucket. To find it, search "akiko-sand" and you will see a message come up that says there are no images under that name. Below that it will ask if you are looking for the user. Click "view this user's album" and it will be the first picture on the right.**

18

After a minute, things Change. After an hour, things change even more. Things changed for Cho as she became involved more and more in the Kira case. She spent her days and some nights working and working. Trying to find him, Kira. Him.

Who was he? Was he good or evil? What was he like? Many of the nights where sleep was evasive, (they were becoming more and more often) Cho lay awake in her hotel room puzzling and wondering about this. Countless Kira stories came to mind, each person Cho meant seemed more and more individual and specific. She began to notice habits of people she saw for a mere second and analyze their words.

Am I becoming like L? She wondered. If she was, she wouldn't be happy.

L seemed different, almost like a whole different species to Cho. He was right about everything and seemed to not need anything anyone normal would. He was so himself that it scared Cho. It scared her whenever he was never scared of anything.

In these small ways, Cho changed. For the better mostly, she was able to watch her mouth a tad better, but she had the tendency to not trust the most unsuspicious people. She avoided the maid in particular with a wide berth. Why not? She was in EVERYONE'S rooms EVERYDAY. A little scary, isn't it? Isn't it?

But even if the neurotic Cho was becoming more and more so every day, it was for the right cause in her mind about Kira. She _would _find him. He _would _pay. But could she find him? I mean, she was just a kid, barely a teen. It would seem way too much like a kid's fiction book if she actually GOT anywhere. Yet here she was. Sipping café mocha in L's room, leaning against his lap like she did as she fell asleep.

Cho knew in the morning she would wake up in her own bed. Maybe she wouldn't be tucked in, and her toes would be freezing off, but she would be there, courtesy of L Lawliet.

The investigation team was a very interesting group of people. There was Aizawa, with his large afro and larger frown that seemed to hover over every shoulder thinking and yelling and pouting at L's constant tests. (L didn't trust anyone) Then Matsuda: innocent, almost so much as a child, with puppy dog eyes and an impenetrable grin. There was Chief Yagami, gruff and gentle, who protected everyone, including Cho with a conveniently protective and shielding hand. His son was there as well, Light Yagami, L's main suspect.

Personally, Cho liked him. He wasn't an extremist in anything really, except for justice which DID feel a little fishy. But he was cute. AND he was smart. Really he never bothered anything that Cho could see.

So, Cho worked and along with the others, found. It was a biggie, an actual tape from someone who called themselves KIRA. A tape from Kira? The thing was, it was sloppy and didn't look quite like "Kira's" foolproof, no-nonsense plans. The printed little "kira" on the blank background hopped up and down every second and so did the previously masked voice, making it garbled and hard to hear. The "kira" believed L's small crew was the other Kira, making it slightly obvious this was a NEW Kira.

It was scary to think about, maybe this power was attained so easily. How was it possible? Did you sell your soul to Satan, like a witch or something, or was it a magical skill, something you were born with. Cho had no idea. She was clueless and frustrated, every time she thought she had a lead, it was tossed across the cyber world and unfolded into a wild duck chase. Cho almost would have rather been at Wammy's.

No! Don't think like that Cho! Wammy's was nowhere for her! Mello was there. That sick jerk. Cho jerked her hand into a tight fist at that exact moment.

L glanced at her sideways. His gaze seemed to linger on her fingers for a spare second longer than her eyes.

"Something wrong, Cho-chan?" he asked calmly, causing her to grit her teeth.

"No, nothing. I'm fine." Cho moved her clenched fist down under the western style table and gulped. If just thinking of Mello made her like this, she was a real wreck.

"Are you sure?" L asked. This was unusual, L to pursue an answer simple as this.

"Yes!" Cho glared at L briefly and clenched her fists more tightly.

L smiled with wide eyes like black moons. "Then that pen just randomly split open in your hand?" he asked. Everyone was looking over at Cho and L now, Aizawa his usual annoyed at the focus of anything other than Kira.

"Ye-wait. AHHHAHAH…ha…OH BLEEPS IT!" Cho realized her entire hand and skirt were covered in black ink from the pen that had "randomly" split open in her grasp.

"S-sorry." She giggled with an obvious fake grin but L did not look humorous.

"Were you oh-so-tense because…perhaps…maybe we were discussing the possibility of the Second Kira being female?" L asked no traces of humor in his voice at all. Cho looked up as innocently as she could, right into stone cold eyes. He had returned literally a couple minutes ago, from "investigating" around Light's school. The conversation must have drifted over to the possibility of a female Kira when Cho was lost in thoughts of that bastard Mello. Cho shivered.

"No." she said, swallowing as quietly and hard as she could. Everyone was staring at her. Staring and staring at her as she looked at the ground and the ceiling and the table with wild intensity that seemed like it made her red eyes turn on fire.

"_I can't be Kira. I'm NOT Kira." _Cho said inside, her heart thumping a loud three-at-once beat. No one moved and then there was a commotion. A loud bumping and rustling outside of the door. Everyone but L spun as the hefty wood door burst open and in came what looked like a mass of moving black.

4 men clothed in black held a tiny blonde girl in their arms. The girl screamed, her pigtails wiggling like fish out of water as she struggled away. Her eyes were shielded by a dirty white bandage but Cho knew her immediately.

"MISA!" she shouted, lunging at the girl who used to be her room mate. "Misa-Misa!" She lunged her small self at the guards surrounding the model and reached one hand in through, stretching it tightly enough that each individual tendon stuck out. "MISAAA!"

"Ch-Cho?" came the uttered sob as Cho managed to brush Misa's jacket with a hand.

"Cho?! What's happening? Why are you here? Cho??" Cho was tugged away and then thrown, skidding back across the thick carpet. Why was Misa here? Was Misa Kira?

Cho thought this over quickly. Was it possible? Cho had no record of where Misa had been the past 9 months and really had no evidence against her. But the hair they had found on the tape…was it hers? Cho turned to L in desperate confusion. What was happening? Her eyes begged.

His were silent, calculating, mocking like the first time they met. How was L able to be this cold to her? Did he really hate Kira this much? It wasn't like L…

Cho was scared. She hadn't done anything. She wasn't Kira. But why didn't anyone believe her? Why?

They held Misa for three days. Cho was more or less ignored by everyone. Ignored but watched very closely. No one trusted her anymore. Not even L who had known her since she was barely eleven. Cho felt cold all the time, the cold feeling of eyes on her back burnt her.

"I'm just a little girl." Cho thought one day, washing her hair in the shower. "I'm innocent! Why is everyone testing me like this? Is this what war does to people?"

It wasn't really a war, but it was close. It was a mental war, the genius Kira versus the equally genius L. Sometimes Cho wondered if it would go on forever, even after everyone else was dead. L and Kira would go on and on and on for eternity and it would become the world itself turned into a living hell because everyone lived in secret and terror of what petty crime could kill them. Crime would be gone, but what would be in its place. Fear? Distrust? Hate? Certainly not love and peace like Kira hoped, if that is what he thought.

All of a sudden Cho understood what L meant with his intense hate of Kira. Her hands made fists in her sudsy white and black hair; determination clutched her brain like a vise.

She hated Kira too, and this was going to STOP. All of it. And Cho would be proved innocent.

She stepped out of the shower, not bothering to turn the water off and wrapped a too-soft hotel towel around her chest. Her hair went up in a messy bun and she dressed in her most comfortable clothes. She might not look all that great, but it was what she wore to work alone, and work alone she would.

Her laptop was open on her lap and she began looking over the information she had, opening the files she hadn't opened yet. Somehow the Second Kira videotapes had gotten onto You Tube. Cho cursed and reported them, along with her reason that no one would believe. She opened a page on Misa Amane, who had obviously been in the city Cho was in now, forming close bonds with Light Yagami.

Cho, looking up quickly noticed something, a flash in the corner of her eye.

"What the-?" she stood, her feet creaking lightly on the red carpet. It was a flash from a light bulb, one that had burned out a while ago and had a large crack in the middle. Cho squinted and pulled herself up on top of the dresser where the light bulb sat. Jamming her fingers into the little crack, she pulled out the sparkly object and held it up eye level. Immediately, her eye stung from the glare of a small camera.

A camera! Her fist clenched over the small object. A _camera? _He wouldn't dare! Cho was female. Luckily, her neurotic growth had bid her change in the bathroom, and L had a "no-bathroom-camera" rule, though there were allowed the bugs.

Shaking her head, Cho hurried around the room, looking in every nook and cranny that appealed to her. One, two, three bugs and four cameras, all in rather obvious places.

"Matsuda." She decided under her breath, "Or….was it a test to see if I would remove the cameras quickly..." Cho gulped. She couldn't replace them now: that would look fishy. Another beam hit her in the right eye and she bent over a cabinet and then turned abruptly.

Behind her stood a boy no older than herself. His wide eyes and shaggy brown hair made him look like some sort of victim she decided. Her surprise gyrated on the walls with a slight breath as she stepped back, knocking into the dresser behind her.

The boy smiled a wide eyes grin. Cho decided he reminded her of L.

"Who are _you?_" asked Cho shyly.

"_A." _said the boy in an echoey voice that she remembered immediately. This boy was no human. He was a ghost. She hadn't seen one of them in forever, and none had ever spoken.

"A…?" she asked, climbing backwards on top of the dresser.

"_Afraid." _His voice sounded like the breath of wind outside.

Cho shook her head slowly, leaning forward over the edge of the mahogany dresser-top.

She was not afraid, merely fascinated by this new creature.

Sensing her feelings, A closed his huge brown eyes and pointed at the bugs with one bony hand. He came closer, making no sound or commotion as he drifted over to Cho and leaned forward, dribbling an eerie scent of blood and ashes over her nose.

"_Do not trust…anyone." _A said slowly, as if speaking in this language for the first time.

"_L is not your friend…or mine. I hate L." _Cho gasped at his words and drew back, looking the boy in the face.

"But--! L's my friend! He's like my big brother! I don't give a damn what _you_ think about him!!"

Cho clenched her fists and held tightly on to the cameras, feeling their miniscule edges punching her skin. Her odd eyes met A's and she frowned down her nose at him.

"Go away. I'm not a friend of any of L's enemies."

A's face seemed to go blank as he took a wary step backwards and bowed his head in reluctance as a parting word. Then he was gone and Cho was alone, crouched on top of a dresser, clutching illegal bugs, and staring at the empty air.

She sure hoped there were no more cameras around.

……………………………..

Cho dumped the pile of bugs and glared at L furiously.

"What is it?" she asked his calm, humored face.

L smiled. "Bugs."

"I _know. _Why are they in my room you PERV?!" Cho leaned forward and put her fists on her hips.

L smiled and turned towards Cho on the couch. A TV nearby displayed a well-cuffed Misa Amane. "You're kind of funny when you're mad." He said matter-of-factly.

Cho glared harder. "It's not funny what I can DO TO YOU!" she growled.

"Cho, look around." Replied L briefly. Cho turned around to see Light and his father standing in the middle of the floor, both handcuffed and looking slightly annoyed.

"What the--?" Cho turned to l with confusion clear on her small face.

"I believe you've walked in on the middle of our arrest." L said. "And personally Cho, I think you should be right along with them."

Cho gasped and stepped backwards, her large red-violet eyes getting larger and larger. Matsuda took her arms and held them behind her back.

"I don't trust you Cho. I'm sorry, but it appears there is a 3 percent chance of you being the actual or Second Kira. We'll have to put you with Light and Misa."

Cho wriggled in Matsuda's grasp to no avail. Her eyes flashed dangerously as she glared at L. "Why's _he _being arrested then?" Cho motioned towards Chief Yagami with her head.

The chief answered for himself, head bent. "I don't think I could handle watching my only son in captivity without me there too. I would attack Ryuuzaki." He said quietly.

"_Suit yourself." _Cho thought bitterly as she was propelled out of the room roughly.

L didn't trust her. Why not? She was perfectly trustworthy and WAS NOT KIRA or anything close to it. She had no idea who WAS Kira, though she had a hunch about that cleaning maid. Her stomach hurt now. How long would she be in captivity? A day? A week? The girl wondered how long she could hold out before becoming totally out of it. They hurried down the stairs and into a cell that smelled lightly of new plastic. She was alone and there was an obvious camera in the corner along with a long bench and chair. A clock stood beside a dirty mirror and there was no window.

Cho knelt on the hard ground and stared at it as she listened to Matsuda's footsteps. She could feel him look back once or twice, and she swore his eyes were probably anxious and sympathetic. She would tell that bastard what he could do with his pity…

Time passed as Cho knelt with her head bent over and her hair in the dusty ground. Maybe an hour. Maybe two days. All Cho knew was she kept her eyes on the clock, even though she made no sense of it. She was hungry. And tired. She wanted out.

Standing up, she looked straight at the camera and glared harshly. Her insides were bubbling over with mounds and mounds of pissed-off and anyone who looked at her would know it.

"HEY!!" she shouted. She waved her bound arms around. "HEY YOU PATHETIC JERK!! LET ME OUT!! I'M NOT KIRA!! DO YOU REALLY THINK I WOULD DO THAT SORT OF THING!! I HATE YOU! DO I REALLY STRIVE FOR JUSTICE THAT MUCH?! I SAY JUSTICE SCHMUSTICE! LET ME OUT!! LET ME OUT OF HERE OR ELSE! COME ON, COME ON! I NEED OUT!! I'M JUST A KID! I HAVE NO CAPABILITY OF DOING THIS WORK KIRA HAS!! THIS IS ABUSE! ABUSE! JERKS, NERDS, IDIOTS!! IF I WERE KIRA YOU'D ALL BE DEAD RIGHT NOW!!111 THIS IS NOT A GAME!! LET. ME OUUUUUUUUUUUUT!" Cho was right up close to the camera and thrashed her head at it. She felt tears welling up inside of her eyes, but she wouldn't let them come out. Not ever.

She began shouting again, trying to get at the camera, dismantle it. She couldn't tell if she were crying or not, but she sure hoped not. Was she going insane? When would she be let out? She shouted and screamed and thrashed for what felt like hours and probably was, but she didn't know or care.

Her throat was raw and empty and her eyes wet and filled up with unshed tears that made her feel sick to her stomach. She was alone and God knows how long she was going to be there as she stood in the semi-dark without any feeling. Cho's body was going to give up she knew. Sooner or later she was about to give out as she collapsed on the long bed/bench and waited. Waited. Nothing was there and she was never going to get out of this hell, was she?

Her back ached and her throat ached now and so did her stomach and even her scalp did. She looked up once or twice, when she heard a click of the door opening for someone to give her half a ham sandwich and water or taking out the dishes Cho didn't eat. Her stomach was so empty it didn't hurt anymore.

Sometimes Cho wondered if she was still alive….or was she dying….or what was happening? She felt unconscious because sometimes she had dreams about things she knew weren't happening. Like Michelle coming in and sitting beside her and feeling her forehead, or L standing outside wordlessly, or even the old man from the very beginning turning into a monster and growling through the bars. Every once in a while, she knew Matsuda or Aizawa came and forced a little food or water into her lips or carried her to the bathroom and let her go. Is this what its like to live in a coma?

Sometimes, she saw people pass by, but not real people. There was a half naked little boy who crouched away in a corner. A little girl with curly brown hair and a porcelain-doll like dress. A came once, looking through the bars and mouthing something.

"_I told you so."_

Then came the day when she heard L. His voice came loud and distorted through the speaker.

"Cho. In three hours, you will be escorted to a car with Chief Yagami, Misa Amane, and Light Yagami. Please remain….calm. And….yes, please remain calm Cho. It has been almost 2 months you have been inside."

Cho swallowed. Two months was a long time.

**A bit abrupt, but ah well!**


	19. Makeover

**I'm sorry for the sucky quality of this chapter, but here it is. I kind of don't like the L arc nowadays, and I almost want to ask...WHO WANTS TO JUST MAKE THE NEXT CHAPTER THE END?? I think i just will, since I'm, the writer. From now on, I have a spoiler alert for those few of you who have not seen all 37 episodes...so...beware. Or just go watch them all and...yeah.**

**I was reading my past little editors notes at the top and bottom, and I sound like some weiner who's all whiney casue their chapters aren't good enough. I'm not like that really. I'm a really dangerous mix of Cho and Mello and Haruhi Suzumiya and a tiny bit of Diva from Blood+. Hm. Well, it's true. I just...ah,well. Your OCs appear in this chapter. I'm sorry its a short appearance, and I REALLLLYYYY hope I didn't forget anybody, but here you go. I'm also sorry if I didn't portray your character right but, at least I tried ne?**

**Oh, all this and I forgot a disclaimer. Here's to five minutes trying to think of a good one. **

**Hn...hn...hnn...hgn...hn...sighs...hn...hn...hn...**

**OH YEAH!! I don't rule Death Note! I RULE THE WORLD!! MUAH-HAH-HAH-HAH!! (minor Light moment)**

**And of course we can't forget the little boy in baseball cap looking up into the sky and going in a small voice:**

**"God??"**

19

The car was musty and hot and smelled like rotten fruit. Cho sat pressed in between Misa and Light. Mr. Yagami was driving, his hands turning white on the wheel. Their arms were still bound.

Cho looked sideways at Misa and mouthed a slow "_Hi." _

Misa smiled, "I missed you, Cho-Cho!" she said, moving herself sideways into a crooked kind of hug that made Cho ache just from the effort. Mr. Yagami was silent, his slicked back hair falling across his face and a grim look in his eyes that Cho could see in the side view mirror.

Light was silent and looked around nervously, seeming a little different somehow. Cho observed him from the corner of her eye, waiting for him to notice her. He didn't. Cho frowned and tilted her head to the left. He looked different too. His eyes were wider, more of a sweet brown than the intense one that had dominated his eyes before. His hair was longer, but that was given, being the 2 months they'd spent in captivity.

Cho's appearance had changed considerably as well. Her bangs were long and almost down to her nose. She'd had to slide them over to the side so she could see. Long, black tangled hair hung everywhere, having fallen out of her messy bun. Her eyes had big bags under them and her skin was sickly pale too. She'd grown very thin and her voice ached when she spoke. It was time for a major makeover--courtesy of Cho herself. She would invite a couple girls over later for some help.

As they drove, Cho wondered where they were going. She leaned her heavy head over onto Misa's shoulder and watched with wide eyes as the road spilled out before them like chocolate from cherry chocolate. Cho hadn't had any cherry chocolate in a long time. She would have to have some soon. In her heart, Cho felt strangely calm, like you feel sometimes when you are submerged underwater, surrounded by empty blue water and bubbles and no one and nothing else.

She frowned as Mr. Yagami suddenly turned the wheel into a hard right off the main turnpike and down a road that led down a thick forested road. Cho detached herself from Misa, who looked sleepy, and leaned forward beside Yagami-san's large ear.

"Where are we going?" she asked softly.

There was a pause as large, old hands left the wheel and the car spun away off to the side of the road. Silence. The car rolled it to a near stop under an empty bridge. Cho could feel the corners of her mouth pulling down in a confused frown. Silence. She dared not speak.

Then, in what seemed like an instant, Cho was shoved back against the cracked leather seat, and a gun was being shoved up her nose. Rapidly, Mr. Yagami forced the gun a little closer, causing Cho to let out a tight squeal. The black hole of the shotgun seemed to spin in front of Cho's vision. He shoved it at a screaming Misa, and then to Light, his lone son. A grimace was spread taut across his shadowed face. Cho felt sick. His own son?

Her calm heart was still strangely beating at a normal rate. It was like her head was in a time warp, an endless cycle that couldn't change. There was a click as Yagami silently cocked the gun, a silent glare sharp on his face.

"If I kill you all now…." He began, looking up through dark eyebrows. "No one will ever find out." He was switching the gun around more, but it mostly lingered on Light. Did he really want to kill this boy that badly? How sick was he?

Cho wanted to cry, to scream, to throw up, but it was like all shock had been wiped out of her and she was empty, emotionless. The gun came a millimeter closer to being shot. A centimeter.

Misa was sobbing. Her big brown eyes were full of yet-to-be-shed tears.

"NO! No!" she shook her head and whipped Cho with his hair. Even Light was breathing hard and convulsing, his eyes on the muzzle of the revolver.

"Here's the part…" Mr. Yagami said over the sobs and shouts of Light and Misa. "Where you all die."

An empty shot echoed through the air and on and off the valley. Empty, it sounded empty, to Cho, it felt empty. She was frozen; even Misa was, lost in the high pitches of her own scream. The atmosphere was totally empty. And so was the shot. There was no bullet. Cho slowly sunk backwards, watching Light fall back like he had been shot. Cho felt her heart suddenly speed up. The gun holder, the father of Light was slumped forward in his seat, his gun hand convulsing like crazy.

He cursed and bent over, shoulders shaking. Cho found herself grasping Light's slender shoulder, breathing hard. He didn't seem to notice.

"It's all right." He murmured through strands of misplaced hair.

Cho nodded, though he could not see her.

"It's all right." The voice was now coming from the rearview mirror, mounted right in front of Cho. It was L's voice. Cho could practically see him leaning forward over the microphone, his wide eyes curving into wide crescents as he smiled toothlessly.

"It was a test. If you were Kira, you would have either killed Mr. Yagami, or yourselves to prevent this. Yagami-san was not going to shoot you. The gun was a total blank." The rest of L's words were lost in the smile that burst onto Cho's face. She was off the hook now. As long as she kept her distance from being suspicious….from thoughts of Mello that obviously made her destroy her favorite skirt and therefore become suspicious.

The rest of the drive was lost to Cho, except for the part where Misa began kissing Light while leaning over Cho, which was indeed quite…interesting….in an awkward way. Cho practically suffocated and ended up having to end the whole ordeal by waving her arms around and giving Light a slight bloody nose.

The place they arrived was a large building in which L sat, smiling and gnawing on his thumb while waiting. Just like Cho knew he would be. To the side was a slowly melting banana split. Cho's stomach grumbled loudly just at that moment and she crossed her pale arms over her stomach in slight embarrassment.

L smiled and slid the bowl towards her. She grabbed the spoon and took a bite before even saying a word. It was delicious, every taste suddenly standing out separately to her. She swallowed and took another bite, her lips full of sweet.

"Thanks." She mumbled watching as L fumbled with a large chain that was randomly lying on a couch behind him. His bony wrist was strapped to one end and he looked rather distracted as he stood and slouched over to Light. Light looked at him questioningly, his new found innocence clear on his cheeks. Wordlessly, L took Light's hand and placed it inside of the thick silver buckle.

Cho squinted through her bangs, wanting to laugh through her confusion. She had no idea WHY L was chained to Light.

"Ry-Ryuuzaki?" Light swallowed and L buckled the hand cuff. "Um…what exactly are you doing?" The question was on everyone's lips. Everyone that is, except for L.

"Do not think," L began, his head bent over his own cuff. "That just because I let you out of that jail you are an innocent pearly white. I still suspect you a bit and would like us to remain, erm….chained together….for now."

Cho giggled under her breath at the thought. How were they supposed to shower….to sleep? She wondered if after a couple millennia they would become Siamese twins. She looked to Light eagerly for his reaction. But instead, the loud reaction burst from Misa's heart-shaped lips.

"But what about our dates??" she whined, clinging Light's arm like a life force. Her big blue eyes filled with sorrow.

L looked at Misa teasingly. "We can all have them together." He said sweetly, watching the petite blonde slump over, dragging Light's arm with her.

"Ewwww!" she said, turning up her lip. Cho smothered a laugh. Just the thought of L, Light, and Misa on a date together was pretty hilarious. She could just see it, Light and Misa sitting across from one another, Light scowling, Misa squealing, and L observing the whole ordeal with a wide-eyed interest.

L turned towards Cho and Misa with a sudden purpose in his eyes. "You two will be staying on the second floor. You have the whole floor to yourselves. You will be on constant camera the whole time." He said, looking Cho straight in the eye on the last part.

"The _whole_ time?" Cho asked suggestively, tapping her chin.

L looked away and shook his head. "Alert us when you are….um…_doing things._" He said softly. But Cho had already found another spot to kick.

"And do you have a thing for Light or sumthin'?" she asked. "Are you going to…sleep in the same bed??"

This time, Light almost jumped back a few feet. Cho broke out giggling. L rubbed the back of his head, looking sheepish and slightly disturbed.

"You certainly haven't changed Cho." he said, making a shooing motion with his unchained hand. "Go upstairs and…do something or other while we work."

"Didn't you tell us to alert you when we…._do stuff?_" Cho added quotation marks with her fingers. "And anyway….I WANNA HELLLPPPP!!"

L shook his head. "No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Ryuuzakiiiiiii!!"

"No."

"Ryu-ryu?" "No." "PWEEEEETTTTTTYYY PWEASEEE!!" "No, Cho." "Ha, that rhymes…..PWEASSSSSEEE! Ryu-chan….you know you want me!"

"First I want Light and now I want you….GO UPSTAIRS."

"But--."

"Cho, what am I going to say?"

"No…"

"Right. Now GO!"

"NO!!"

But before Cho knew it, someone had grabbed her around the waist and lifted her up into the air. Aizawa's afro lingered by her waist. Cho squealed loudly and pounded Aizawa on the back. He ignored her small fists and set her lightly on the stairs, his big mistake. Cho jumped fearlessly up onto the banister and dove off into the air, like a diver into the water. She landed right on L's back and giggled as he slumped under her sudden weight.

"GYAAAAA!!" Aizawa's temper split as he pounded down the stairs towards Cho with a murderous expression on his rather funny round face. Cho glomped L so tightly he swore his back was at cracking point as she buried her head in the back of his shirt.

"Ryuzaki!! Save me!!" she shouted.

L looked up at Aizawa calmly. "Aizawa. There is no need to be angry." He turned his shaggy head towards Cho so that they were nose-to nose. Cho cocked her head.

"What do you want Cho?" he asked slowly, drawing out each word. Cho hopped down off his back and knelt, her hands in a clutching position,

"Ryuzaki. Can….IhaveabunchofgirlsoverforagirlnightsinceIhaven'thadoneinsolong??" she asked.

There was a pause. Cho grinned widely. "THANKS!!" she hopped up the stairs and ran down a random hallway, popping into the first room she saw. The first thing she saw, mounted prominently on the wall, was a camera. She waved and then paced the room slowly, feeling each step with a single toe.

There were two long beds facing each other, a long window beside that, and most importantly, a phone. Not bothering to check out the other rooms, she knelt cross legged and tried to conjure up the phones of a couple certain girls for around 7 that night.

Cho sat glaring at the clock, her oversized sweater hanging down to her pale, bony knees. "My Dying Bride" was blaring in the background, to Misa's great distaste. She'd put up with it for 3 years already though, learning to turn her Aya Hirano CD all the way up on her mp3 player.

The door beeped its loud beep all of a sudden and L's voice came loudly over the speakers.

"Cho-chan. Your guests are arriving." He said in his proper voice. Cho leapt up, pulling on her black and white striped tights and met her first two guests at the door.

There was Sam, her baseball cap pulled low over her wavy dark brown hair and matching eyes that Cho had to look all the way up to see. Though she was younger than Cho she was almost 5'8. Sam pulled her ipod headphones out.

"Heya, Cho!" she exclaimed, bending down. Cho glomped her. The other girl, Maya was slender and brown haired, a little taller than Cho. She was rather quiet and mysterious, but smiled and hugged Cho when she saw her.

"We were supposed to arrive all together." She said. "But Isabellea and Alyssa got lost."

Cho shrugged. "I have all the stuff laid out right here." She pointed to an array of combs, make up and snacks. "Misa can help."

"Oh my god, Misa AMANE?" squealed a blonde girl from behind Sam and Maya.

Isabellea grinned and ran over to Cho, her green eyes glowing. Behind her, Alyssa smiled and stepped forward towards Cho.

"I haven't seen you since that last modeling job in Switzerland. Ha. Remember that round red nosed guy who took your picture?" she asked, laughing at the memory.

"Yeah, I vant to vake your vicuture!" Cho giggled, hugging her. Isabellea was in awe over a rather shocked Misa.

Cho looked up at the sky. Sure, it was time for a make over and a party, but it felt like someone was missing. A girl with wide azure eyes and short blonde hair. Cho bit her lip and put on a big smile.

**And thats it. ONE MORE CHAPTER OF THE L ARC FOLKS!! AND THEN WE'LL BE FREEEEE! flies away into the distance**

**we hear an ominous splat**


	20. finisse

**THE L ARC IS DONE!! YATTEE!!**

L was dead.

It happened so fast, like a streaking bullet out of nowhere. Cho felt like she was going to barf. She had looked in Light's eyes, and seen that smile, that red glow. She had held L in her arms in such shock that she could not breathe. Not a whisper of breath echoed from her mouth.

But the tears never came then. She was too shocked at the expression on Light's usually innocent face, the smile that slithered like a snake across his features. Was he….? But then he looked up, the scream bursting out of him like a waterfall. And Cho wondered if she had been wrong, too suspicious. But that glow, that smile.

Could it all be an act?

Cho thought back over the past few months. The encounter with Higuchi. The final showdown. Misa relating to Cho the experience she had in Higuchi's car. Her fear. But she had seemed different somehow as she spoke to the black haired girl. Like she was hiding something. Something that seemed to make her clench her fists on the couch and duck her perky blonde head. Then the shinigami. To Cho it had been a shadow, a long shadow that followed her sometimes, but then she could see it clearly. And L had the killing note, the Death Note… Cho hadn't been involved. She had been an outsider, watching the whole procedure with a tourist expression.

She bent her dark head over L's body and listened. The screams of Matsuda, of Light, of Soichiro. Cho shook with an emotion, something so strong her teeth stuck together so much she could feel them cracking. She swung her head up, coming head to head with Light her eyes empty and fierce and so so empty and sad they jolted Light for a second, made him see this small thirteen-year-old as exactly what she was: a little girl.

But then Cho was gone, her thigh length hair streaking behind her and the tmp tmp of her shoes on the floor following her.

She knew what she had to do. Run. Just like at Wammy's. Just like before. Just like she always would. She threw most of her things into a bag, not caring they wrinkled and were soaked from invisible tears that she never cried.

And she left. No one followed her and no one seemed to care as she streaked out the door forever one thought in her head.

Goodbye L.

**Kinda depressing, but ah well. it took me like 2 mins...**


	21. TIMESKIP!

**Yay! The L arc is over and I am out of my hideous long lasting writers block...Enjoy.**

21

Six years. They had happened so fast, and in a slur, like someone had just let out a spool of thread and it twirled and unwired onto the ground. Cho was world-famous, her red and purple eyes made into a popular color of contact lens, much like Marilyn Manson's one blue-one-green-eye look.

Cho was nineteen and a half. It had been a while. She had grown, now about 5'2 but with her signature black hair streaked red on the edges and her gothic Lolita style perfectly intact, if not more vehement. Her body was still skinny and pale and she was still wearing those same adorable lace-up boots she had started wearing immediately after leaving L's domain. And not to forget the oversized sunglasses she wore on a regular basis. And the cherry red lipstick, with black liner.

She lived in Los Angeles now, and knew all very well that there was another L that was _not _in fact her "L." And then there was an "N" and the SPK. Cho wondered about this N, and sometimes a little smile would creep across her face thinking about it. Could it be….?

There was no M though, much less two Ms, but she still looked and waited. She was vital to the Kira case. Something told her that. But not yet. No one needed her, she was the little glass figurine waiting for Christmas. Cho wondered when she would get this call. Would she even be willing? What if it didn't work out?

_It had to. _ Didn't it?

Cho sat at her kitchen table cramming her cheek with dark chocolate cherry cordials. Her absolute favorites that she ate near every day. Her TV was on to the news. Kira was everywhere, much more famous than any celebrity, he was a new Hitler. He had followers and enemies and groups and you could Google the four deadly letters and come with more than 8 billion results. More results than there were people on Earth. It made Cho sick and scared and angry, which led to her absolute need of cherry chocolate. Like she had right now.

Her phone rang. It was her agent. She rubbed her temples and listened as offers for her to work on three new projects were sent to her built in email system on her cell phone. Cho put her TV on mute with a flick of her black-painted fingernail and turned the cell on speaker as she looked at the email.

"Okay, Cho-bi." Her agent's rather pressured voice spit out into the air suddenly. She always called her Cho-bi. It meant little in some kanji, which Cho had found out while devouring "Chobits" volumes like life force. "We have three today! Let's see….there's the new movie from that one director….whatshisface."

"Comedy?" Cho asked with her mouth full.

"Yep!"

"Trash." Cho deleted the email with the corny R-rated comedy plot. "I don't feel funny today."

"That's odd Cho-bi….are you binging on cherry cordials again?!"

"Yep." She popped the "p."

Her agent let out an audible sigh then continued. "There's a commercial for anti-Kira."

"GAHHH! CAN'T KIRA BE LEFT OUT OF THIS FOR ONCE!! I AM SOOOO sick of the sicko today…"

"So that's a no?"

"Hm, lemme think…of COURSE it's a freakin' NO!"

"Watch the 'tude girl. Let's see. This third one is really…rather…_different._"

Cho sat forward in her seat and looked at the phone intently, her breath caught in her throat. The last _different_ had been an offer for porno from some supposedly famous pornographer. Cho said no. Really loudly.

"Well. It's from some dude named Snyder. He lives here in LA. He wants to meet you and talks about something….I don't think you--"

Cho cut her agent off. "I'm gonna read it." She leaned forward and clicked on the unopened email. She read it slowly. Then gasped. And read it again. It was rather brief, a little fishy if you didn't…

Cho Noir,

Hello. My name is Snyder. Meet me at exactly twelve o' clock tonight. I live in the city and have some interesting prospects on Kira and….your past. If you choose not to come it is entirely your regrets!

I will come to your address. Or you can come to mine.

Snyder

His address was enclosed. Cho was breathing again, but quickly. She tightened her grip on the cell phone and closed her eyes.

"Yes?" asked her agent. "Cho?"

"I'll do it." Said Cho. "But I'm coming to his place. At eleven."

The sky was a silky black like Cho's hair. She wore a red silk pick-up minidress with a black sash, fishnets and her knee highs. Over it she placed a black waist coat and sunglasses. Her hair was pulled back in a waist length ponytail.

Outside it was rather chilly and dark as it could get in Los Angeles. A few gangsters leaning against the wall outside her apartment looked at her out of the corners of their heavy sunglasses, not moving as she dashed along, not daring to look back. There was no knowing what they could do.

Snyder lived rather close, maybe 8 or 9 blocks down, and Cho was fast in her boots. As she turned onto the main street, the loud bright lights and voices blinded her and she smiled. Unlike many, she loved this crazy city with its crazy people and their crazy hours. She let out a whoop as she began to run full-speed. A couple people waved at her from the other side of the street. She waved back and turned off into another darkened alleyway.

"Careful, Cho!" shouted someone behind her. Cho turned backwards and waved at the nameless person as she disappeared into the darkness. Cho had no fears at this point, as well as no shame, but she barely noticed this as she dashed into the dark alleyway full-blast, her bangs blowing off of her forehead.

There were 2 or 3 more blocks until the warehouse were Snyder had said he was. It was 11:14, Cho's lucky time as she showed up at the dark, looming place. She hurried up a flight of stairs and jiggled the doorknob. Locked. She rammed her fists against it and then turned, rubbing her hands together for warmth. It was surprisingly cold out this night, and Cho hadn't brought gloves. She wished she had thought ahead and looked at the weather.

Cho turned and knocked again, waiting for an answer. Nothing. Crap. The girl looked up and saw a window about 2 or 3 feet up to her left. She ran her cold, pale fingers over the railing and then hoisted herself up, hands gripping the top of the window sill as she pulled herself inside and her boots rubbed against her nose and she smelled the familiar fake leathery smell that he always smelled on them. With her elbow she slammed the window. It cracked easily and Cho was a little surprised as she dusted glass shards off of her elbow and sighed. The window led into a vent. Great. Crawling time.

Her body fit in fairly well and she began pulling with her elbows, hoping she got all the glass off, and even more hoping no one had heard her entry. It was completely dark ahead, but what lurked in vents and was deadly to a human girl with a mean right hook? Cho shrugged and her shoulder blades jarred against the top of the vent.

She hated small spaces.

About 20 or so meters ahead, a small vent pointed downwards. Cho pulled the edge of her eyes so they were just pointing down into the scene. A group of men were sitting on a long stretch couch and smoking or making out with sparsely dressed women or just lying. This was…Cho pulled herself over more, putting her front half on the vent. It creaked slightly and Cho winced, trying not to move.

"We've got the girl tied up in there. I gave her a Snickers bar to work with." Said someone in a wheezy voice. It sounded like they had smoked too many joints. A girl? Tied up with a snickers bar?? Cho jolted forward and all at once she heard a crack and then she was upside down, looking at the vent, except it was empty and the grids of the vent were whacking her in the knees as she collapsed onto a couch.

She was in trouble. BIG TROUBLE. Her sunglasses had amazingly stayed put, not like it mattered as two impossibly huge guys marched towards her.

Cho jumped/fell backwards onto the ground, her skirts flying. She blushed furiously as she heard snickers and felt a rough pair of hands wrap around her waist and lift her up.

"Who are you?" asked the voice. Cho did the only thing she could think of doing. Spit him down right in between the eyes.

The man cursed and tossed Cho backwards, where she was met with another big thick pair of hands she couldn't see. She kicked and squealed and bit childishly as the man forced her down on the couch and grabbed her around the shoulders. Using all her might, Cho managed to cross her arms over her chest and pull her knees up a bit. She could feel the hands yanking at her elbows and her waistcoat and her boots were half unlaced.

Her eyes were closed. She couldn't see anything but a swirling black sheet over her eyes. Groping mindlessly with her feet, she connected with what felt like a jaw and kicked again. Hard. And again. Someone gripped her ankles so hard she swore they were about to crack. Cho let out a scream and she was flipped over, landing on her knees on the hard cushions. Her sunglasses finally fell out, her hair slumping over her cheeks and rubbing her shoulders.

Cho pulled upwards, eyes intense and fiery. Her gaze met two beady dark eyes that widened in fright and yanked back.

"Her eyes!! They're red!!" the man howled and then everything went quiet. The hands disappeared from around Cho's small waist and she pulled back slowly, one bone at a time…intensely eyeing the room. Everyone was still and shocked and quiet. The vent grid lay still on the ground. She leapt up and grabbed it, shoving her sunglasses back on her face in the process. They were cracked.

"Anyone who gets CLOSE to me will face the roaring rage of the evil vent!" she growled menacingly. No one dared to laugh at her poor word choice. Then someone in the back of the room stood up slowly…slowly. They were taller than Cho and skinny as well as muscular.

"Cho?" said the voice. Cho backed away. The person came closer and not daring to look at their face, Cho dove forward at them, grid at attention. She felt pressure against her fingers and she was on the ground with her sunglasses covering practically her whole face.

"Cho?" asked the voice again. It was in her ear, trying and cool. Cho gritted her teeth and tried to punch. She didn't CARE who it was. But then she was in the air and on the couch and her sunglasses were being pulled off her face.

"Cho!" and then she recognized it. That one voice. The one she hated so bad she HAD to open her eyes. And she saw him. His blonde hair was in the same style and his eyes were the same aqua and scowling.

"Mello." Said Cho in a quiet voice. And slammed him in the face as hard as she could.


	22. blonde boy

When Cho smashed her fist into Mello's face, there was what one could call absolute silence. It was so thick that the deaf could hear it. Cho's heart was pounding off the hook, partly from her recent attack, but mostly from HIM. He was here! How, how could it ever be…..that….that JERK!

Her teeth were grinding and she was glaring at his face and his nose was bleeding into his hand. Just like it had that one time, the one day when Cho had run Mello into a pole in her urgent search for her brother. She remembered laughing at him, his weakness and the blood spilling out onto the crystalline snow. She wanted to laugh now, but her throat was so tight she was unable to do anything but glare and swallow.

"Cho…" he cursed, and wiped his nose and took a huge crunch of his chocolate bar all at once. A few crumbs fell on Cho's nose. Mello had pulled Cho by her hair into his lap and she was right under him, feeling him, smelling him, tasting the same air he did…….

And it absolutely disgusted her.

"Mello." Said Cho again, darkly, angrily, hatefully. He looked down at her, studying her features as she did his. He was harder, sharper, all angles and aqua scowls and the only thing soft about him was the sheen that glinted off his hanging blonde hair. He was still skinny, but wiry and her wore sleeveless leather clothes and his crucifix.

"You've…grown up, Cho." Mello said.

"Not you." Cho said, (but she was lying.) "What are you, a drug dealer?"

The blonde cracked a chocolaty grin. "Close enough. I'm Mafia."

Cho shielded her surprise with her blink. "And I'm an idol. What about it?"

"Sure 'nough, Cho-bi." He taunted, pushing her little nose with a leather glove. "I see your eyes everywhere." Cho snapped at his finger like a dog and bared her teeth. Mello laughed.

Someone interrupted them.

"Hey, Mel. It's great you met your little girlfriend and all, but can we stop fooling around get back to our actual job now?" said the small-eyed man who had attacked Cho before.

"Speak for yourself!" Cho spat, sliding abruptly off Mello's lap. She was shaking with anger.

"What are you fools up to anyway? I heard something about a prisoner."

Small eyes took a threatening step towards Cho. "So you eavesdrop as well?" he asked; the stupid grin gone from his face.

"Why not? You asked me here, anyway. I'm ALLOWED to get in your business!" Cho folded her arms, point realized.

Small Eyes froze and started to make a face. His eyebrows settled down even lower than they already were and his small square teeth showed. But before he could attack, Mello stood and brushed him away like a fly on a windowsill.

"That's right. But the girl's gone now." He said, grinning.

A man in the back of the room, near where Mello had been originally, stood.

"Since when?" he asked, confused. "I told you not to ki--!"

Mello cut him off with another fly swatting wave. Cho was beginning to realize Mello's importance to the group. It intimidated her slightly. If the blonde ever got angry, Cho would be good as dead. She'd already seen a fraction of what the rest of the Mafia members could do and it was not exactly a ball game.

"The girl has just been retrieved. Someone should be coming in about now with our trade." Mello said smugly, looking sideways at the door with his slanted aqua eyes.

Cho took in a sharp breath. "What trade?" she asked, a little nervous.

As the words left her lips, the door opened and there were creaky hurried footsteps on the stairwell. For a long second there was absolute silence of anticipation. Cho could feel her heart pounding in her throat, practically hear the blood pouring through her veins and into her flushed cheeks.

The door at the bottom of the stairs opened. A man came in, wearing gloves and a ski mask. His lips stood out bright pink against the black. With a prudent hand, he slowly lifted an object, square, black, and maybe 8 ½ by 11 inches. A notebook to be exact, and Cho immediately knew what it was. She leapt to her feet and dove towards the man just as Mello sat heavily on the couch and held out his hand in a subtle come-hither motion.

Of course, the man ignored Cho and shoved her aside onto the couch, going straight for Mello. Mello smiled to himself at the unsinkable Cho's easy defeat and held the notebook in his hand.

"The Death Note, huh?" he said, a humorless chuckle at the end. Cho stood and pushed herself over towards Mello, grabbing for the note.

"Gimme!" she whined as he pulled it away, flipping through it. Cho leaned down and up to see, pushing her head under Mello's chin. It was horrible. Lists and rows and rows of names, all lined up methodically in rows, like Jews at a concentration camp. The kanji was insufferably neat, written clearly, name after name after name.

Cho recognized some. Here and there she traced her fingers over the kanji that sent sometimes-innocent people to their deaths. The girl felt her stomach churn under her tight red dress.

"Unbelievable." Murmured Mello in awe, his jaw pushing Cho's head down as he spoke. Cho moved away and stood in the half circle that formed around Mello and the Death Note.

"What, you think this is _cool_ or something, Mello?" she snapped, shocked that he would find something so disturbing "cool."

Mello looked at her. "It's amazing." He said, his fingers running over the pages, the neatly inked in symbols.

"Something no one could ever have dreamed of in a million years. A notebook that takes people's lives…" There was more heavy silence in the room, making Cho shudder, looking from Mello to Small Eyes to each gang member's awed features. She backed away slowly, not wanting to be here at all. She just wanted to be anywhere, away from here. Something bad was brewing in Mello's slanted green eyes, Cho could see plainly.

But just then something amazing happened. The Death Note lifted out of Mello's gloved fingers and into the air, making an empty "whoosh" sound. Out of everyone spurted a collective gasp, which seemed to still the room even more than it already was.

What the hell…" he murmured, eyes becoming widened into aqua pools. The notebook seemed to come to a stop in the air and right itself. Mello was frozen, fingers still poised like he was holding the notebook.

But right then the notebook dropped. But not into Mello's hands, but onto the head of a scrawny glasses wearing man with a scraggly beard. He seemed horrified, jumping as far as he could away from the notebook.

"GAHH!" he shouted, raising a laugh from the group. It was sort of funny to see a grown man jumping away from a small notebook, and screaming as he did so. But Cho was in no mood for giggling.

"Pick it up, Snyder." Growled a Small-Eyes clone. Snyder! The man who had sent her the letter! The girl felt a leap in her chest. He was scheduled to meet her about now. But currently, he glanced around fearfully, crawling towards the Death Note as slowly as he could. Slowly, excruciatingly slowly, he grasped the book, wincing. Then he opened his eyes

And abruptly began screaming.

He seemed to be pointing into the air, something there no one could see. Cho turned and looked at the air where he was pointing. Everyone had moved a couple badly concealed hops away from the spot as the screeches issued from Snyder. But Cho-bi was moving towards it, her hands out. As she reached the feared area, Snyder shouting at her, she put her hands out and shut her eyes. There definitely was something there. Though Cho could barely make out a form, she could feel energy there: buzzing, buzzing. Electromagnetism made her fingers tingle slightly.

"There's a monster! A MONSTER!" Snyder wailed. Cho looked at him, shaking her long hair back and forth.

"What?" Mello looked at the spot where Snyder pointed, looked at Cho. Her eyes were huge, slightly nervous. Mello was satisfied enough. If Cho was nervous, there was definitely something to be nervous about.

"TOUCH IT! TOUCH THE NOTEBOOK!" Snyder flung the book at Mello caught it neatly, and though it was already in his fingers, he laid his hand on the cover formally. He looked up at Cho. But he couldn't see Cho; he saw her arms, groping a huge monster's butt. He didn't know whether to laugh or shout. The monster was scary, and huge too. It was looking down at Cho with a rather unnerved look on its face. The notebook was being passed around now. The Death Note was being passed around, touched the same way Mello had touched it. Gasps and screams were circulating after the little black book as it worked it's way slowly but surely towards Cho. Cho reached out and grabbed it as soon as a short man beside her received it. He didn't have the chance to formally place his palm on it. Cho didn't do this, but looked up, and saw the monster.

It was eerily familiar, and now solid. Cho was now aware she was groping it. She jumped back with a squeal, and took a better look. It looked like something, something from long ago when she was still a little girl, barely any older than ten. Of course! She had seen them, along with the ghosts of sad-faced people all over then. Now those visions were sparse, only appearing sometimes, and mostly as lone shadows Cho barely glimpsed.

"Shoot!" someone shouted, and Cho heard the clicks of many guns clicking and readying themselves, all aimed at the monster ahead. Then the air exploded with gunshots. Cho ducked and covered her ears, squeezing her eyes shut tight. Then, there was a long silence. She looked up, expecting a bloody mess…but there sat the monster, surrounded by bullet shells. It chuckled with an eerie grin that seemed to stay fixed on his cheeks.

"Who the hell are you?" Mello growled, tossing down his gun. He stood; walking over to the monster menacingly... or at least what would be, for another human.

In Cho's mind, an opportunity flashed. She ran over to the blonde's deserted seat and sat directly on top of the gun. It was a pistol, small and silver, making her smile. Quickly, she lifted it and without thought, slid the weapon down her top. It felt cold against her chest.

Cho looked up, just in time to see the monster introduce itself. "I am Gelus. Gelus the shinigami." It said

"What is your purpose here, _Gelus?_" Mello asked right off the bat.

"I am the keeper of the Death Note, here to tell the 13 rules of the notebook." Gelus said, tilting his huge head to one side.

"13 rules?" Mello asked, glancing around questioningly, as if they were written to the wall in hot pink spray paint.

And so Gelus began, rattling off the thirteen rules Cho had heard issue from L, six years ago. She listened again, and then frowned. Two were missing. That was strange.

After the rules had been said, Mello frowned, contemplating the rules in his head one by one.

"Hmm…" he looked at the notebook with a smile in his eye, but not on his lip.

"This is a very powerful book." He began. "Something I have never thought of. It is unimaginably powerful, unusual in every way. It can save one, kill one, or destroy someone. It will…" Mello paused; fists clenched and held up, a useless show of power.

"It will blow my every competitor out of the water, including that stupid Near."

There was a cheer, a confused cheer that didn't really get it. But Cho did, and she was suddenly very nervous. What did Mello plan to do, exactly? There was no way of knowing.

After a second, Mello jumped atop the couch.

"WE WILL CONQUER ALL!" he shouted, a grin spreading across his features.

But then there was a loud boom, a distant one that shook everyone out of his or her current positions. A couple people, probably the same ones who had been afraid of Gelus, screamed. Mello looked up and jumped down out of his perch on the couch.

He came up behind Cho. "What was that?" he asked, so quietly she could barely hear. Remembering how angry she was at him she flipped her hair and shrugged haughtily.

"Come on Cho. We were best friends. It was just a slip, that…thing. I'll never kiss you again. I promise." Mello put his hand on Cho's shoulder.

"Bastard." Cho said in response, jerking her shoulder.

"You got to punch me…come on, at least walk a mile in my shoes before you get all insulting!" Mello was starting to get angry, his grip on her shoulder like iron.

The next time Cho spoke, she was turned towards Mello, smiling.  
"And then I'll be a mile away, and I'll have your shoes." She said triumphantly. "Ha. Cho: 1, Blondie: 0!!"

As she turned away again, Mello smiled to himself a bit. She didn't seem as angry anymore, just pissed. And she was always somewhat pissed when it came to him. But Mello's smile didn't last long. Suddenly from behind came a choked cry from one of his Mafia. Spinning, he saw the first one fall, stricken, eyes wide. It was "Small Eyes" as Cho had dubbed, and he was dead before he hit the floor. Resounding with the crash as his steroids-like muscular form, were the cries of the other Mafia, falling, falling, a sick mime of Small Eyes death. But they were all real.

Cho was sitting there with her hand pressed over her mouth and her eyes wide. Gelus was gone. Before you could say "Death Note" everyone was on the floor, dead, all from heart attacks. And just like that Mello knew exactly what that crash had been. He grabbed Cho, pulled the Death Note from under an open mouthed, stricken body, and ran, the latter and the former each tucked under one of his arms.

"Mello? Where are we going? Put me down? What are you doing?" Cho screamed, struggling.

"Shut up and come on, Cho." Mello growled.

Come on. Come on. COME ON. He was running, reeling around corners, pulling the girl and the notebook. Now, they were his only two possessions, dash everything else. Dash it all. Mello was running and thinking, scrambling his brain for a plan and for an answer. A flight of stairs popped up in front of him and he stumbled up them, tripping and pulling and shouting. Cho was quiet, terrified, peering over Mello's shoulder as he chose a room and dove in.

He dumped Cho on the floor as carefully but quickly as he could, clutching the Death Note in his sweaty fingers. But he wasn't alone. He turned to see on of the Mafia, whatshisname, a burly longhaired guy panting in the doorway. Another burden. Mello crouched over, embarrassed as glad to have one of his group see him like this.

"Oh, God. Oh, God." He tumbled into a swivel chair. He didn't have long, not at all. A plan was barely half-formed in his mind. And Cho's huge violet-crimson eyes staring into his wasn't helping. He pointed at the Mafia man, who was standing there, gawking at Mello's scandalous breakdown. He was, for now a gossip with no one to gossip with.

"Lie down. Got a gun?" he asked, trying as hard as he could to control himself. The man grunted and nodded, pointing stupidly to a machine gun a couple feet away.

"Grab the gun. Play dead. You'll know what to do." _I hope. _ The last part went unspoken forever.

Mello pulled Cho tighter onto his lap and squeezed with all his might into her ribcage. It was for her sake and for his. She had to stay quiet. He needed her to. He also needed something to take his anger out on. Cho let out a strangled gasp, but held herself up prideful as usual, lips pressed tight. She understood. There were footsteps, louder, louder.

Cho watched as the door crashed open with a bang and a figure appeared, breathing hard, eyes glinting an eerie red. Was it an illusion? She watched it straighten up, Mello's grip on her ribs hurt like hell but she needed to bear it for now.

Then she gasped. Or at least tried to through Mello's arm.

It was Mr. Yagami, Light's dad! He had aged in six years, hair grayer, eyes deeper, and skin pulling down in the strange Halloween mask that some old people get from time. Cho wanted to scream out his name, but she knew it wouldn't be good. Almost immediately, Mr. Yagami recognized Cho too, his features looked suddenly pained.

But they studied as they turned to Mello, who had barely managed to compose his self.

"Mello…" he growled in that way people in anime tend to do every time they see their current enemy.

"Yes?" Only Cho could hear the quiver in his voice.

Slowly, Mr. Yagami pulled out a notebook. Another one? It was a Death Note.

"You die now." It was a simple observation, a glint in his red eyes. Red?!

He flipped open the Death Note, smiled grimly, took out a pen, and began.

_**Miha…**_

"Mello!" squealed Cho.

…_**el Ke**_

She looked at him, her eyes beginning to tear. And then all hell broke loose in the form as the fake-dead Mafia. He began shooting as fast and hard as he could at Mr. Yagami's back. Just like he was supposed to. Already, Mello felt relief in his chest.

There was no time.

He grabbed Cho again and began to run, dodging bullets. Cho looked back, tears flowing from her eyes at Mr. Yagami's fallen form. It was the end for him.

He had given it all up.

Mello was jamming something over his own head, a kind of mask. He was breathing heavily, holding Cho to him.

When everything went up in insane flames.


	23. Through the Fire and Flames XP

**Okay, wow!! I have a challenge for this chapter. EVERYBODY that looks at it reviews! Even if you haven't read the previous chapters!! LoL That should be funny. SO REVIEW NO MATTER WHAT!! I don't care how short it is. You can randomly say "cookie" and I will feel very complimented. I just want to see how this turns out...**

23

Cho held onto Mello, her eyes squeezed shut so tightly her nose hurt. On her back was an incredible heat; it seared and felt like her back was on fire.

"Mello!" she murmured into his chest. He looked down at her, stared through those gas mask goggles. He suddenly felt so selfish. Cho was so small, and not as strong as he was. But putting the gas mask on her was not an option now. Or was it? How hard could it be to pull off the helmet and shove it down on her head? No. It was the answer he knew and feared, as he let go of the black haired girl's pale arms and placed them on either side of his helmet. The fire scarred metal burned through his melting leather gloves.

"Cho…" he murmured back, squinting down at her barely visible features. And he pulled off the gas mask, revealing his clean, unscarred skin. The heat was unbearable. It squeezed into his every pore, made him start to sweat almost immediately.

_This is for Cho. Cho and no one else. _

Concentrating hard, he looked down at her, through the heat waves. She looked up at him, tried to speak but all the wetness was gone from her tongue. All she let out was a croak and a shake of her head.

_Mello!! What are you doing??_

Then the mask was on her head, her face and she was shielded. It was hot, burning hot in the gas mask. She could feel an edge of it burning her bare skin, tearing the tissue bit by bit. But she was too hot to care.

Mello could feel the heat searing like nothing he had ever felt before. Hotter than he had been when he was in Whammy's House that first rare London summer, but had no summer clothes, only his sweaty winter coats. Hotter than the way he'd felt in his first hot spring bath, submerged underwater in the smoky, hot as hell water. It was even hotter than his cheeks had burned and heart had raced while kissing her, Cho. The girl he now had to save.

The fire was so bright it blinded him and he saw white spots all over his pupils. They seared. Would he see again? What else was he sacrificing tonight? How were they going to get out of this? Mello had no motivation, nothing. They were locked in this temporary hell that just might turn into a real hell, at least for Mello. All he had now was Cho.

Burned alive, huh? He thought in a doomed trance, moving one foot forward. Immediately, the floor crumbled, too loose for even his lightweight frame. Mello tried to shout, but why waste oxygen. No one would hear him! No one would everevereverevereverevereverevereverstupid hear him. Ever. He held Cho tighter and tighter, then moved forward a tiny bit more. They would die together. He squeezed his eyes shut, ready for the bite of death to succumb him for eternity.

_Would it hurt?_

Something cracked. He moved Cho away from the sound. She couldn't be hurt!! Not on his life. Just then the same something fell and that very same something hit him. Something on fire that hurt so bad he couldn't do anything but open his searing eye oh-so wide and let out a gasp. His other eye was still, the skin crumpling and burning and cracking. It was over, wasn't it? At least it wasn't Cho. She wasn't the one burning to death, feeling every body part burn and crumble into ashes individually.

Cho stared down at Mello, his shocked wide-eyed expression, and his gaping lips under the burning log that had hit him. He had moved her away from it, away from the log that would have crushed and burned her limbs to a twisted mess. Was he dead? Mello!

He couldn't be, she wouldn't let him. NO! With all her strength she yanked his arm and pulledpulledpulled her arm tight. He came loose, limp in her arms. She breathed in, out, in and turned, him over her back, He was especial heavy in the heat, her damp clothes already weighing her down so much it felt like she weighed a million pounds herself.

What now? She spun her eyes around inside of the gas mask but it was also foggy and far away. If she just closed her eyes, took off this mask...NO. She couldn't doom herself to that death, that kind of end that was so pathetic and sudden and…no. Cho wanted to die old, so, so old that she knew everything there was to know. She wanted to live longer than Mello, and Michelle, and her agents, and her children. To know their deaths and know their souls were safe. She couldn't end like this, slumping over in ripped fishnets and a burnt black red dress. No. Cho Noir was going to get out of this alive if she had to give her right arm.

Standing solidly on the ground, Mello on her back .She knew exactly what to do. She had to run. Run so fast the floor wouldn't be able to pick up her weight. And Cho would never be able to carry Mello. She would have to drag him, hope his leather pants would hold out, or that she would go fast enough for him to float behind her like a child's balloon. So she did. The soles of her shoes were melting, stuck to the wood with every step. But nothing was going to hold the raven-haired girl back as she dashed through the wreckage. Cho was watching the floor melt down under her feet, watching herself somehow keep going, somehow avoiding walls and planks and everything else like she knew their path by heart.

And it reminded her of when she had been there, that same position so many years ago. It was cold that day, an end and a beginning of all that was good. It was the day her brother was gone. The day she had lost her old life, never to go back. She was eleven years old again, dragging Mello with her once again, him yelling at her, that deep scowl creasing his unwrinkled forehead that only children have.

Now Cho ran on quicker and quicker, the memory of youth, that day was burning in her skull. Something was searing her skin under her shirt, almost ready to burst out through the melting fabric; it bounced between her skin and the tight material of that dress. _ The gun! _At that precise moment, as she bent over, attempting even more speed, the gun spilled out of her front. Something inside Cho flashed. She needed that gun.

It was fiery hot as she fumbled it, almost exactly like a football and held it precariously between her fingers. She could feel the skin burning and swelling a bright red. Pain. Pain. Pain. It was all Cho could feel as she stumbled through what once had been an extravagant Mafia hideout. What was now a deadly maze. Somewhere ahead, Cho saw the slightest sliver of what looked like moonlight, white and pearly as well…a moon. She was thrashing, grinding her teeth, trying not to sob because she knew if she did it would all be lost.

Then a face came into her head, a familiar face that made her heart ache every time she saw it. The face of her brother, his messy red hair, that lopsided grin. And she suddenly felt so alive and individual as she dove, and stayed in the air. The freezing, freezing empty air that gave way to concrete and the sparse grass that dots the side of manmade hills. The blood was gushing from everywhere to Cho. Her elbow, some was dripping into her eyes like a thick red curtain. But there was too much relief to hurt. She was clutching the unconscious Mello, feeling him and squeezing him. His searing hot scars were practically burning her skin.

She laughed and didn't sob. That would be too girly for Cho at the moment, too energy wasting. All she wanted to do now was lie back, stare at the stars, turn all her senses off and just float there in the AIR. Her lungs were bursting with the stuff, and she'd never been so thankful for that wind. As Cho lay back, she knew she wouldn't care, no matter WHAT had happened. And then everything was gone for what felt like a blissful eternity.

"Cho?" the voice was dry and painful to her ears. She covered her face with her hands and let out a choked groan. Her fingers were on fire with pain.

"Agh!" With a light thump, she sat up and looked down at her hands. They were swollen and red and pussy. As her eyes scraped over the rest of her body, bleeding and dirty, it all came rushing back. _The fire, Mello, the Death Note_…

No. She looked up as fast as she could, searching for Mello, frantic. He was right in front of her. Inches away in fact. She blinked slowly, once.

His eyes were as wide as hers, but one was surrounded with red, bumpy skin that looked a bit like a Halloween mask. Frowning, he put her hand out and laid her fingers over it, tapping lightly. It was rough and made the tips of her fingers tingle with some kind of energy. She pulled them away.

"Mello. Take that off." She said, rolling her eyes. He must carry it around for some reason, to scare people.

Mello's face stayed grim, solid as a rock.

"Mello?" Cho tilted her head and looked closer.

"Mello! Come on." Her eyes went wide. Then she was silent. Looking down at her hands in a painful understanding, she tried to look around, see anything but that horrible mark. That…thing.

It was still dark out, the morning stars fading in and out of the deep purple sky. It illuminated everything in shadow, making Cho feel ghostly and alone. Over where the building stood--had stood rather--only a few warm embers glowed with empty determination. She was suddenly so cold. A shiver ran down her shoulders, causing the girl to wrap her arms around herself.

Mello's hands were on her shoulders, peeling leather scratching her shoulders.

"In my car--…" Mello gestured to an ash-covered vehicle that had once been a red mustang. It was still, tilted at an angle on the bumpy ground.

Cho shook his hands off and stood shakily, followed by Mello, grimacing in pain with every movement. The passenger's side door was bent into a mess, Cho noticed as Mello slid into the driver's seat. She came around to his side and slid over him, the hems of her short skirt brushing against his lap. He stiffened ever so slightly and inhaled. Cho ducked under his arm and into her seat, letting her burnt fingers linger lightly on his thigh.

He looked at her, then quickly looked away and started the car. The keys had stayed locked in the ignition. The engine shuddered and was silent. Mello sighed and tried again. Nothing. Again… The third time was the charm for them. The engine began to buzz and Mello slid cleanly into Reverse, angling the car towards the road.

"There's an old coat in the back." Mello muttered to Cho as she fiddled with her seatbelt. He didn't bother with his.

"Oh…" Cho let the silence settle, then rose up on her knees and rummaged in the back for the sweater. It was inevitably made of leather, and at least 5 sizes too large for Cho. But it enveloped her in warmth almost immediately.

They drove along silently, slow in the usual LA traffic. Cho didn't ask where they were going or why, simply studied the road quietly, her brow furrowed.

The engine began to sputter and Mello sighed, pulling over into an alleyway. The drove slower and slower and then with a final spurt of energy, the engine gave out with an expected pop.

Cursing quietly, Mello got out of the car and went over to the trunk, not even bothering to check under the hood of the dead car. After a minute, Cho heard a cell phone dialing with its usual distorted beep. Mello's voice followed, commanding and dark.

"Ten minutes, no more." He muttered darkly into the phone. Then there was a click as he hung up. And a groan. Cement shifted and she heard more groaning, now lower, on the ground.

Cho unbuckled and clambered over the driver's seat, outside to see Mello lying, grimacing, and holding his face, his torso with obvious pain. She bent and gathered his head onto her lap, peering down at him. He was still cursing; eyes squeezed shut, too tired to accept reality.

"Mel?" Cho asked, eyes shining with honest worry. _That scar must hurt. _She thought stupidly, placing her hand over one side of her face. Mello was gripping her hand with his, pulling her down on top of him. She resisted with all her might, managing to stay at a ninety-degree angle over the pain-ridden boy. Man. He was twenty now, a year her senior. At nineteen Cho was still a teenager. She felt so young.

Mello groaned again, scratching her arms with his grip. She jerked forward and backwards, felt her eyelids grow heavy, feel the weight of breath climbing on the bony rungs of her ribs. He was in so much pain. So, so much pain. In a way it was because of her, Cho. She had been right there, he had moved her. Now here he lay, never the same again. Her lips pressed tightly together, she wiped her nose and breathed deeply. In. Out. In. Out. Mello was still grimacing, groaning, holding her arms with all the strength of a pro-wrestler. His breathing wrestled with hers. Her deep even breaths hand to hand with his irregular gasps.

Shaking his head, he stared into her eyes with wide aqua ones, dilated pupils. And then he was out. His grip gone off Cho's arms. She slumped with relief, exhaustion.

_All this and it's not 24 hours yet. _ No one would begin to search for her till tomorrow sometime, maybe late today.

Just then another car pulled up, screeching to a stop sideways. Cho looked up briefly to see a pair of boots running at her, smell smoke.

Smoke. Not fire smoke, cigarette smoke. The smell she hated and loved so much. Instinctively, she covered her nose and peered down at Mello.

"He all right?" asked a husky voice, obviously male.

Cho paused, and then shook her head no. This wasn't Mello. Not like him, not him.

"Here. I'll take him." Said the voice. The person crouched down, his head too bent down over Mello in worry. A gloved hand reached out and took his limp arm, thumb groping for the pulse. Cho looked at him silently. His hair was the same red...hanging down over the rest of him. A cigarette poked out of his lips.

"Who are you?" Cho asked, finding her voice again. The boy, maybe a little older than her glanced up into her odd eyes. His were a chocolate brown. The same as…as…

He looked back down and shook his head, rubbed a hand through his hair. "A frie-…" he began, but then froze, hand dropping to his side. The cigarette slidout of his lips as he slowly raised his eyes, staring into hers.

It was he, wasn't it? Matt. Mail Jeevas. Her older brother.

"Ma-Matt." She breathed, her eyes wide and glowing like platters.

"Cho!" Matt dropped Mello's arm on the ground and dove at her, landing over her, rolling in the pavement. He held her. Held her so tightly she couldn't ear it. But she loved it. Loved it so so so so much that she screamed and held him back, her arms around his head. She was bloody and dirty and probably smelled, but who cared! She was with him! Matt! Her brother, her best friend, her savior.

The tears came fast as he rose up from on top of her, looked into her eyes, her flushed cheeks, and her upturned nose, at her fingers around his neck, swollen and red.

And she collapsed into his arms again, and let her tears run like small oceans.

**ENJOY?? Now click that review button, no matter what. LoL. HAVE FUN! (I accept Anonymous reviews too...) So...all you stalkers can review too. **


	24. Reunion X2 The Hydrogen Peroxide version

**Wow. It has really been a while since I have updated, ne?? Actually, right now I have almost completely stopped watching anime. gasp But don't worry, Cho will continue...hopefully. But at this point, it looks like she will. I wrote this chapter uber-fast. It really was going to be longer, but it's not. Because I have to go back to my mom's house and I have the story at my dad's house. So deal with it. LoL I hope you enjoy this anyway. I added a bit of fluff for you fans of MelloxCho. LoL. It's kind of sentimental fluff tho...so...read and REVIEWWWWW I love you all!!**

**I am probably going to start responding to reviews up here. (here) It would be fun. I think. **

24

Cho couldn't take her eyes off his face. It was beautiful; it practically was shining, glowing, angelic. Matt drove along the street, a huge grin on his face and his goggles pulled up, slightly mussing his shaggy bangs.

"I missed you!"

"I thought you were dead."

"Me too."

There were no questions, no demanded explanation of where the other had been. Matt and Cho were in ecstasy. Floating in their own form of time and space. His hand was clenched around hers while the other steered the wheel nonchalantly. In the backseat, Mello's crumpled form sprawled sideways over the worn leather cushions, his tangled singed locks hanging over the angry red skin on his left cheek. If he were conscious he would be embarrassed at the affection.

"I love you."

It was so good to be with her brother, even in a run-down car, in a crappy part of LA with blistered, red fingers and tangled hair. She was happier than she had been in the last couple of years, if even more than that. Cho wished she could stay in this moment forever, frozen in time, never to bore of this renaissance of Matt. Just Matt, Matt, no one else. Not even Mello. The black haired idol leaned back and closed her eyes.

Matt cleared his throat.

"Cho, you're cutting my circulation off."

She unclasped her death grip and relaxed. "Sorry, Mattie."

Matt glanced over at her and flicked his turn signal. Loose gravel crunched under the wheels as they turned.

"Just because we are reunited does NOT mean you can call me Mattie." He rolled his eyes, but a smile curved his lips.

"Then YOU can't call ME Butterfly Girl."

"You're just the same, ya know that?"

Cho giggled and smiled broadly.

--

They drove to a small apartment, where Matt carried Mello up the stairs and laid him on the couch. Cho sat down tentatively beside him, her eyes suddenly stony.

Matt went into another room, shut the door and reappeared with ointments and washcloths and medicine. Cho watched him bend, flashing a reassuring smile at her and begin to work on Mello's burns. The girl watched the way he worked, quickly and carefully, his lips pressed together. His fingers neither strayed from the particularly nasty parts of the scar, nor did his face scrunch up when puss seeped out over his palm.

_He should be a doctor_ she thought, smiling.

The light turned into afternoon golden, turning everything shades of yellow and blue. Cho's hair was violet, Matt's deep yellow, and Mello's almost white. Cho sighed and began to relax again, gathering her knees to her chest.

Matt's bark startled her. "Cho. Hold his hand."

His deep eyes were urgent and tight. They never wavered.

"Why?!" Cho looked at her own hand protectively, then at Mello's. It lay limp across his hipbones. Matt smoothly unzipped Mello's leather vest. Yanked it off. His torso was equally ripped and bony, the ribs and hips all visible, but washboard firm, like he ran miles every day. Cho blushed inwardly. Then she saw the scar. It ran down the whole right side of his body, raging and rough, like Mello himself. In a way, the scar fit him so perfectly. A deformed glove that enveloped his personality and made it more insane. More extreme. More zealous.

She took his hand, even though Matt had yet to answer her question. The blisters on them burned at the pressure, but she sucked it up. Her brother took out a black bottle and wincing, carefully poured the entire contents over Mello's scarred body and face. Almost immediately, Mello jerked up. His teeth bared, spit-shining. He cursed loudly. Cho suddenly realized why she was holding his hand. She squeezed tightly; even more so than she had held Matt's hand. But Mello was silently shaking. He barely noticed Cho holding his hand.

"Hydrogen Peroxide." Explained Matt, pulling down his goggles and standing. Mello swallowed hard and gritted his teeth.

"You mean torture by medical means, right?" he said in a cracked voice. Masses of white bubbles from the peroxide were already beginning to spill from the dirty sections of the burn. Matt blew out a puff of relief and wiped his hands together.

"I need a cigarette."

"You STILL smoke?" Cho folded her arms and frowned at him. Matt shrugged and pulled a pack out of the breast pocket of his vest. Mello looked from Matt to Cho and back again.

"What do you mean, STILL smoke?" he asked. Suspicion edged his voice like venom. "You two just met."

Cho laughed and dropped the maternal disapproval at Matt's rat poison addiction. "No stupid, he's my brother." The words were like candy on her tongue. Brother. MY brother. HE'S MY BROTHER.

Mello's mouth dropped open. "No shit."

"No feces, Mel. Remember that day?" she thought about the snowy evening when she had presumed Matt dead.

Mello blinked, looked from Matt to Cho again.

"No way. That's too..."

"Amazing? Coincidental? We know." Matt turned and began to leave, trailing a pungent trail of cigarette smoke in his wake. Peering back over his shoulder, he grinned slightly, the cigarette trapped between his teeth.

"I'm out for a bit. You two keep…holding hands or whatever you plan on doing."

Simultaneously, Mello and Cho both stared at their fingers, intertwined tightly on the pillow between them. Simultaneously, Mello and Cho both pulled back at the speed of light.

"Ugh! Perv!" Cho shook her fingers as if they had been infected with disease. Mello snorted and wiped his own fingers on his leather pants.

Matt turned back around, a smile still visible in his tone. "We all know how you two feel." He teased. "Cho, there are some bandages and peroxide on the floor. Use them on your hands. Mello will help you." He left.

Cho groaned and lifted the peroxide in her aching hands. Shook it. Only the whoosh of air sounded. It was empty.

"Is there any more?" she asked Mello, not making eye contact. He shrugged and then realized she wasn't looking at him.

"Probably in the cabinet." He said gruffly.

"What cabinet?"

"In the bathroom." He pointed. Cho followed his finger and found herself in a small, almost perfectly square room boasting a microscopic shower, tiny toilet and looming cabinet over the latter. Mello had followed her in, leaning himself over the door frame, still shirtless.

"What do you want?" Cho asked, kneeling on the closed toilet bowl and opening the cabinet with a slight creak.

"To wash my hands." He said a little too quickly. He went to a bowl-shaped sink in the corner and turned the cold on full blast. They were back to back, his shoulder blades brushing the tops of her shoulders. Both tried not to move much, Cho rummaging carefully through the cabinet. Mello holding his hands still under the torrent of water. Both wished Matt was there to ease the tension.

"Here it is." Cho said abruptly, grabbing a black bottle perfectly resembling the empty one. She spun around at the exact time Mello turned off the water and turned. They stood still, crushed together in the sliver of space, her face bent up towards his. She clutched the bottle. His dripping hands quivered in a barely audible movement. There was a long pause, a stare issuing from her crimson-rimmed irises to his blue ones. Neither detected any emotion in the other, simply stared silently. They were barely touching, but pushed into one. Barely feeling, but their hearts were racing like speed cars. Barely detecting the way his wet fingers brushed hers.

"Mello…"

Breathy and sweet, her voice gave him a jolt.

"…can you go get the bandages?"

He left almost immediately, jerky movements spraying droplets of water onto her. She sat down on the toilet seat, shaky as ever and took a deep, tremulous breath.

What was she feeling and why did it make her so jumpy?

Mello returned with the bandages, eyes downcast.

"Gimme your hands."

She did so, not resisting as his cold fingers held hers still and poured hydrogen peroxide over them. It stung. She gasped and swore. The white bubbles dripped onto the floor in hissing clumps.

The bandages felt good over her hands, like soft bed sheets after a restless day. Mello held her wrists and twirled the textured white fabric over each one of her fingers gently, securing them with bendable metal clasps.

When he finished, Cho held out her hands at arm-length and ran her eyes over them in quiet contemplation.

"When do you think they will heal?" she asked.

"I'm no doctor." Mello looked at them too. "But I would say...well…I dunno. Time will heal them, I guess."

He left, reappeared with his leather shirt zipped up.

"I'm going to the drug store for some chocolate with Matt. You want to come?" he asked hurriedly, straightening his collar.

Cho sure didn't want to be stuck here alone. And she was starved. There might be cherry cordials or Hostess or something if she came along. Wordlessly, she stood and followed Mello outside. The cool air brushed her arms and she shoved fists into her armpits.

The three piled into the run-down car. Mello made Cho take the back. Engine roaring to life, Cho stared out the window and took deep breaths. She was exhausted. Starving. Over stimulated to the max. She never thought her reunion with both her childhood friend and older brother could be this…miserable. Sure she had been happy, but this underlying exhaustion was weighing down her limbs with every smile, every shaky breath. Now all she wanted was to sleep again. For a long time.

They pulled into the drug store parking lot. Cho let Matt open the door for her in a fleeting bout of feministic weakness. The girl could barely keep her eyes open as she staggered towards the see-through door with Mello. Matt had hopped back inside the car for another quick smoke.

IT was mostly empty, except for a hat-clad blonde buying chocolate. Cho yawned, the fluorescent lights giving her bleary eyes. Mello looked down at her.

"You're sure you're all right?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. Cho shook her head and followed him over to the chocolates just as the blonde took the register. A box of dark cherry chocolates lay on top of the Clearance stack. The girl lifted it under her arm and looked up at Mello. But he wasn't looking at her. His eyes were on the girl at the counter. She drummed her fingers as the cashier rang up her purchase—a dark chocolate bar.

Cho rolled her eyes to the sky. "Mel, you can check out hot chicks later. Let's go." But Mello shushed her with a single finger and started towards the blonde. He was NOT going to hit on her! Cho felt a light surge of something cold and hard in her stomach. She began to grab his arm, but he strolled right up the counter and wrapped his hand around the girl's face. She shrieked and the black haired girl's jaw hit the floor.

What was he DOING? She ran over, suddenly alert and yanked at Mello's arm forcefully.

"Mello!" she shouted. The clerk stood there, his lips open in a gothic O. "Mello! You let go right now!" she was on the verge of a nice right hook to the eye. But at that exact moment, the blonde stopped struggling.

"Mello?" she asked quietly. Her voice quivered in disbelief and something more. Cho froze, her fist poised and ready to smash some face. But Mello smiled. Smiled. It was the first time she'd seen him really do that, Cho realized. Then he dropped his hands off the girl's face.

Blue eyes, just like Mello's. Full, red lips. An innocent expression.

Michelle was back.

**So there you go! Short, but I had funz writing it and listening to "Linkin Park", "I Killed the Prom Queen", "Drop Dead, Gorgeous" and "Eyes Set to Kill." All great groups, all heavy metal!! I am obsessed with the Kite Runner right now. I know. I have THE weirdest obsessions. O.o I am writing a sequel of my own. :D And Oh, I am obsessed with House MD and Hugh Laurie. Me and my friend Emma/Kat/Mary are writing a pwned FANMAILLLLLLLLLLL. **

**Now click that review button and give me some love! **


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